The European Commission has proposed allocating additional EU funding to aid farmers affected by adverse weather events, high input costs, and various market and trade issues. This new support package will comprise €330 million distributed among 22 Member States. The support package is on top of the €100 million approved for farmers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia on 3 May. The funding will also allow higher advance payments to aid farmers impacted by adverse climatic events.
The exceptional support of €330 million from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget will benefit farmers in 22 EU countries, including Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, and Sweden. This EU aid may be supplemented with up to 200% of national funds following the Member States’ discussions with the Commission about their respective agricultural sectors’ challenges. The measure will be voted on at a forthcoming committee meeting for the typical organization of agricultural markets.
The aid will be distributed directly to farmers by national authorities to compensate for economic losses due to market disturbances, high input prices, rapidly falling agricultural product prices, and damage caused by recent climate events. The aid can also fund the distillation of wine to prevent further deterioration in the sector.
The approved €100 million support package for farmers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia will allocate specific amounts to these five Member States. These countries have been experiencing logistical bottlenecks following large imports of certain agri-food products from Ukraine. Exceptional and temporary preventative measures on imports of a limited number of products from Ukraine have been in effect since 2 May and will be phased out by 15 September 2023.
Both support packages’ payments should be made by 31 December 2023. The covered Member States will have to inform the Commission about the implementation details of the measures, including the aid calculation criteria, intended impact, evaluation, and actions taken to avoid competition distortion and overcompensation.
In addition to this direct financial support, the Commission proposes allowing higher advance payments of CAP funds to improve farmers’ cash flow. Up to 70% of direct payments and 85% of rural development payments related to area and animals could be available to farmers in mid-October. Furthermore, Member States will also have the opportunity to amend their CAP Strategic Plans to direct CAP funds toward investments to restore production potential following crop destruction, loss of farm animals, and damage to buildings, machinery, and infrastructure due to adverse climate events.
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