On Tuesday 25 April in Luxembourg, the five EU Member States bordering Ukraine - Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania - called for additional measures to help their farmers cope with the consequences of the influx of Ukrainian grain.
The European Commission did not make any new announcements at the Agriculture Council (see EUROPE 13165/1).
The Agriculture Council discussed the situation of the agricultural markets, which have been disrupted by the effects of the war started by Russia.
Other EU countries called for joint solutions instead of the bans on Ukrainian agricultural imports imposed by four of Ukraine’s neighbours (Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia).
The European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski recalled the proposals to address the concerns expressed by these five Member States: a second tranche of financial support for farmers in these countries (€100 million), exceptional safeguard measures for essential commodities and rules to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian grain exports through ‘solidarity lanes’.
The Commission’s proposed package is conditional on Member States lifting their unilateral measures, the Commissioner recalled.
The additional demands of Ukraine’s neighbouring countries are summarised in a document submitted to the EU Council (https://aeur.eu/f/6jf ).
The Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture, Mykola Solskyi, took the floor and responded to the unilateral measures taken by some Member States, stressing that: - the EU needs Ukrainian grain for animal feed due to droughts, for example; - the low Ukrainian grain prices are partly due to an expected good harvest in Brazil; - cereal prices should be compared to pre-war prices and not to last year’s prices (see EUROPE 13168/9).
Poland and Slovakia presented their suggestions for mechanisms to solve the problems related to the ‘solidarity lanes’. Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania reiterated their solidarity with Ukrainian agriculture and called for a common European solution.
Other EU Member States raised a number of points:
- their solidarity with Ukrainian agriculture (all Member States);
- their understanding of the problems faced by farmers affected by high imports from Ukraine;
- the need for a common EU approach, based on rules, instead of unilateral measures;
- the importance of ensuring that grain imports reach EU Member States that need them (e.g. Spain and Portugal) and non-EU countries (particularly in North Africa and the Middle East) in order to ensure global food security;
- the importance of not interfering with the internal market.
Several agriculture ministers called for aid to be mobilised from funds other than the crisis reserve provided for in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rules, as: - the funds in this reserve are limited and may be needed by other Member States/sectors (there is an impact on other sectors, such as fruit and vegetables); - direct payments to farmers could be affected (the crisis reserve is built up by reducing direct payments); - the situation is not only related to agriculture (it also concerns, for example, transport and trade). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)