On Thursday 19 September in Strasbourg, the European Commission and MEPs deplored the lack of instruments and funding provided by the EU to help farmers cope with natural disasters.
Concerning the floods in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland (see other news), “we are monitoring the situation closely and are in contact with the national authorities of the countries concerned, in order to obtain a full assessment of the situation and its impact on farmers. This will also help us to choose the best action plan in terms of assistance, in close coordination with the countries concerned”, said the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, during a plenary debate on the effects of natural disasters on agriculture.
“The Common Agricultural Policy was not designed to respond to consecutive crises”, said Romanian Daniel Buda, speaking on behalf of the EPP. He asked for funds to compensate for the loss of income and enable farmers to invest in modern irrigation infrastructure (water storage capacity).
“Increasingly frequent climate disasters are forcing us to think about more ambitious solutions, particularly for our farmers”, said Stefano Bonaccini (S&D, Italian).
Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA, German) believes it is time for less intensive farming with more crop rotation, and for the implementation of the ‘nature restoration law’.
In his last speech to the European Parliament, Mr Wojciechowski said to certain MEPs: “It’s not true” that the EU is reducing its agricultural production and increasing imports from third countries.
He also spoke in favour of a more sustainable livestock sector and the importance of encouraging mixed farming (crops and grassland to feed livestock).
Crisis reserve. The European Parliament has widely criticised the lack of funds in the reserve in the event of an agricultural crisis. The crisis reserve is endowed with €450 million euros per year, but it is insufficient, concluded Janusz Wojciechowski, who called on the European Parliament to “put pressure” on the Commission to propose an increase in the crisis reserve and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) appropriations in the next Multiannual Financial Framework. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)