The European Commission has proposed to allocate almost €120 million to support farmers impacted by adverse weather in five member states.
Farmers in Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Italy and Romania are set to benefit from the funding.
Farmers in these member states were impacted by weather in various ways, from drought-like conditions to storms, hail, and frost, in the first half of the year.
The €119.7 million in funding will be paid from the EU’s agricultural reserve to directly support the affected farmers, who were impacted by “exceptional adverse climatic events in spring and early summer”.
The commission is proposing to allocate €10.9 million to Bulgaria, €45.5 million to Germany, €3.3 million to Estonia, €37.4 million to Italy, and €21.6 million Romania.
The commission said that this will contribute to compensating farmers from these countries who have lost part of their production and, as a result, part of their income.
The amount allocated to each country can be increased by up to 200% through each member state’s exchequer funding.
The commission’s proposal will be discussed with all member states, before they decide on its approval during the meeting of the Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets, which is a committee under the commission’s Directorate-General of Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI).
This meeting is set to take place on October 7.
Once adopted, the five member states will have to distribute the aid by April 30, 2025, and ensure that farmers are the “ultimate beneficiaries”.
These member states will have to notify the commission by December 31 about the details of the measure and implementation, notably the criteria used to determine the granting of individual aid; the intended impact of the measure; the forecasts for payments broken down until the end of April; and the level of additional support to be provided.
The notification to the commission should also include what measures these member states are taking to avoid distortion of competition and overcompensation.
Farmers in other member states have also been impacted by severe weather in the second half of the summer, especially in several Central European member states that have been hit by Storm Boris recently.
The commission said it will assess whether such damages also warrant EU funding.