Faced with a drought that is severely testing European farmers, the European Commission and representatives of the sector called on Tuesday 1 September for emergency measures to be stepped up, while also preparing agriculture more thoroughly for extreme climate events, which are expected to become more frequent.
As part of its monitoring of the situation on the ground, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, accompanied by the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, representing the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, brought together by videoconference on Tuesday 1 September representatives of farmers from several Member States in order to better assess the consequences of the extreme drought affecting the sector.
Participants considered that the consequences of the drought go far beyond production losses alone. Farmers have in particular had to work more, in particularly difficult conditions, which has had consequences for their wellbeing.
Messrs Hansen and Heydon, together with the agricultural representatives, agreed that farmers are also part of the solution to mitigate climate change and limit its effects. A consensus also emerged on the need, in the face of extreme climate events that are expected to become more frequent, to move from a crisis-management approach to a long-term preparedness strategy.
Against this backdrop, the future Common Agricultural Policy will make greater use of mutual funds and risk-sharing tools, while continuing investment in sustainable water management, a European source explained.
The role played by farmers in tackling forest fires this summer was also praised, with participants underlining the strategic importance of land management in preventing fires.
Commissioner Hansen also highlighted the measures and flexibilities already available under the Common Agricultural Policy to provide short-term support to farmers. These options are set out in a letter sent to Member States on Tuesday. For his part, Minister Heydon will report back to the other agriculture ministers on the main lessons from this exchange, notably during the informal meeting in Dublin from 6 to 8 September.
After the meeting with Commissioner Hansen, EU farming organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) called for a European response commensurate with the scale of the climate crisis affecting agriculture.
In the short term, they are calling for immediate financial aid to support farmers’ cash flow, greater flexibility in the use of Common Agricultural Policy instruments and better European coordination of national measures.
In the medium term, Copa-Cogeca wants to strengthen adaptation and risk-management tools, notably by investing in more resilient varieties, water management and irrigation infrastructure. On the regulatory front, it is also calling for certain obstacles to adaptation to be removed, notably by taking action on the Nitrates Directive, requesting the suspension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for fertilisers and improving access to effective plant protection products.
In the long term, Copa-Cogeca is calling for sufficient funding to be provided in the future Common Agricultural Policy and the European Competitiveness Fund in order to invest in adaptation to climate change, innovation, water and risk management.
For its part, the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) set out five main demands, with one central objective: to avoid bankruptcies and the disappearance of farms as a result of the climate crisis.
These demands include replenishing the agricultural reserve in the event of a crisis and introducing lump-sum aid capped per active farmer. The ECVC is also calling for prices above production costs to be guaranteed and for common market organisation instruments to be used to enable farmers to cover their costs, including the additional costs linked to climate events. The organisation is calling in particular for an effective ban on purchases at prices below production costs.
Other demands include bringing forward to 15 September the advance payment of 70% of common agricultural policy aid, instead of 16 October, allowing Member States to adapt certain Common Agricultural Policy criteria to exceptional climatic conditions, and reforming agricultural and trade policy over the longer term. Link to the letter sent to the ministers: https://aeur.eu/f/n80 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)