On Monday 26 June, the European Commission announced that the agricultural crisis reserve would be fully mobilised in 2023, first, for the EU countries most affected by the effects of the war in Ukraine, but also for farmers in other EU Member States hit by adverse weather conditions, high input costs and various market and trade-related problems.
The Commission welcomed two separate announcements on Monday.
Firstly, the EU Member States approved, at a Common Market Organisation (CMO) Management Committee meeting, the already announced €100 million in aid for five EU countries close to Ukraine: 9.77 million for Bulgaria, 15.93 million for Hungary, 39.33 million for Poland, 29.73 million for Romania and 5.24 million for Slovakia.
The Commission confirmed on Monday that Hungary had lifted restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.
Drought, floods. Secondly, the Commission confirmed its wish to mobilise the remainder of the funds available in 2023 under the crisis reserve - i.e. an envelope of €330 million - for the 22 other EU Member States, including 53.1 million for France, 35.7 million for Germany, 60.5 million for Italy and 81 million for Spain (see EUROPE 13200/20). The Baltic countries (especially Lithuania) will receive support because of the crisis in the dairy sector. This €330 million package still has to be approved by the Member States at a forthcoming meeting of the Management Committee.
The 27 countries in question can supplement this EU aid by up to 200% with national funds.
Several other measures have been announced by the Commission, including the possibility of increasing advances on direct aid and rural development aid to help farmers affected by adverse weather conditions.
For further details, go to https://aeur.eu/f/7q7 (Lionel Changeur)