Commission aims at emergency aid for meat sector
In a meeting with senior politicians in Brussels on 14 March, the European Commission’s agriculture commissioner, Phil Hogan, proposed what he described as “exceptional measures” to support EU farmers in the face of unprecedented volatility in the EU market.
The aid package is focused on supporting the dairy, pork, fruit and vegetable sectors, which claim they have been hurt by Russia’s retaliatory ban on western food imports. Some of the measures outlined by the commissioner included the reintroduction of the short-lived private storage aid for pork products, as well the establishment of a Meat Market Observatory – a data-gathering body that will monitor the beef and pork markets.
In response to the proposals for a new private storage aid scheme for pigmeat, Commissioner Hogan is considering the introduction of a new scheme. The details of the scheme, including the timing of its introduction, will have to be confirmed.
Despite citing the exceptional measures of the overall aid package, no extra funding will be made available as the European Commission has already deployed €1bn to help the industry since Russia’s trade ban in September 2015.
Jean-Luc Mériaux, secretary general of the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union (UECBV): For the UECBV, the priority to fix the crisis in the EU pork sector is to reopen the Russian market. As a first step, for the products that do not fall in the scope of the political embargo. Unfortunately, the meeting on Monday 14th March did not deliver anything despite the recurrent request from the Member States and the EU stakeholders.UECBV hopes for new robust EU initiatives towards such resumption of the trade with Russia in the coming weeks.
‘Resilient in the face of volatility’
“In the interests of EU farmers, I am prepared to use all instruments that the legislators have put at our disposal, both as a short-term and long-term measure,” commissioner Phil Hogan said at the Council of Agriculture Ministers in Brussels on Monday 14 March. “We must use the appropriate instruments and actions to enable farmers to be resilient in the face of volatility, whilst providing immediate assistance to them.”
For some time, a whole host of agriculture bodies have implored the EU for additional help, with farmers facing the worst crisis since the 1980s. Since last year, Copa-Cogeca has put pressure on the EU to help the pork industry, known to be in a state of crisis: prices are at their lowest level in eight years, supply continues to outstrip demand and Russia, once a key importer of EU pork, aims to be self-sufficient in pork by 2020.
Risk management
Reacting to the belated emergency measures from the EU, Irish MEP Jim Nicholson from the Ulster Unionist Party, said: “There has been a lot of build-up and speculation ahead of this week’s Agriculture Council. There is now, belatedly, recognition by Member States and the European Commission that the agricultural industry is in a state of crisis.
“Some of the measures, such as the proposed Meat Market Observatory, are new, while others, such as those under the headings of international trade and promotion are effectively older initiatives which are being refocused.
“It was also interesting to note that the fact that only 10 of the 28 member states have paid out their allocations from last year’s €420 million aid package has not helped to strengthen the Commissioner’s case for securing more EU funds for agriculture.
“Developing specific financial instruments and risk management tools to address volatility and promote investment in European agriculture is another area which the Commission has been keen to promote for some time. Uptake of these initiatives in the EU is slow, but we are beginning to see some examples being rolled out. The potential of financial and risk management tools must be fully explored.”
