EU member states have called on the European Commission to increase the ceiling of state aid for farmers to €50,000.
Under EU rules, state aid that does not need to be notified to the commission, and does not require commission approval, is limited to €25,000. This is referred to as ‘de minimis’ aid.
At a meeting of EU agriculture ministers last week, a majority of ministers called for this figure to be doubled, with European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski also backing calls for an increase.
The European Commission has said that it will launch a revision of the agricultural de minimis regulation, in light of the inflationary pressure in recent years and high input prices affecting the agricultural sector.
Belgium currently holds the revolving presidency of the Council of the EU (council of ministers). Speaking after the meeting last week, Belgian agriculture minister David Clarinval said: “A large majority of delegations sought additional measures from the commission, such as increasing de minimis aid to €50,000.
“Any measures should be temporary and targeted so as to not disturb the internal market,” Clarinval added.
The Belgian minister said an increase to €50,000 had majority support in the council, though some member states did not support the proposition. These member states expressed the view that this type of aid should be seen as a last resort.
“Some member states expressed a slightly less enthusiastic position, because, of course, the national solutions, de minimis solutions, are less federal, they are less European, they are more national than European. It’s a kind of last resort, or should be.”
“Some countries might not see it as a totally positive thing, but I can say a large majority was more in favour, but there were some nuances in some countries’ positions, because it does depend on the financial capacity of each country,” he added.
Also commenting on the proposal after the meeting, Commissioner Wojciechowski said: “I’d like to confirm the commission is working on analysing this suggestion.
“It is not my responsibility, because this is the responsibility of the Commissioner for Competition. My position as commissioner for agriculture is very much in favour of the extension of de minimis aid,” he said.
“It is absolutely necessary to increase the limit. Our farmers need state aid because there is a lot of disasters, a lot of climate events which are affecting our farmers very much… It shows that we need this de minimis support. It is very important and should be increased,” he added.
State aid crisis tools
Separately, the European Commission last week announced a six-month extension to the State Aid Temporary Crisis Framework to address persistent market disturbances in the agriculture, fisheries, and aquaculture sectors.
This Temporary Crisis Framework was announced in March 2022 to provide sectors impacted by market disturbances resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is not a permanent change to state aid measures.
The extension announced by the commission last week allows member states to provide limited amounts of aid to companies active in the agriculture, fisheries, and aquaculture sectors until December 31, 2024.
Countries will continue to be able to provide companies affected by the war, or by the subsequent sanctions and countersanctions, including by Russia, with up to €280,000 for the agricultural sector and up to €335,000 for the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, until the end of this year.