EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski has announced that the commission is working on special market measures aimed at sectors severely hit by rising input costs, particularly the pigmeat and poultry industry.
Agriculture ministers discussed the risk of pressures on agri-food sectors and food security amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine at an informal meeting yesterday (Wednesday, March 2).
Measures under the Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation are yet to be finalised and, the commissioner added, private storage and a crisis reserve will also be looked at.
Intervention measures
Among proposals made in the council meeting, the commissioner drew three conclusions including the mobilisation of expert groups, special market measures and the planting of protein crops using fallow land.
Intervention measures will be discussed by the Special Committee on Agriculture along with the next Agriculture and Fisheries Council on Monday, March 21.
Commissioner Wojciechowski added that the outcome of an analysis and measures linked to energy prices and particularly fertiliser costs will be communicated next week (Tuesday, March 8).
Using fallow land for protein crops might be considered as a measure to secure and free up Europe’s production capacity in 2022, according to Commissioner Wojciechowski. However, he added, this needs to be discussed in the European Commission.
This measure, according to French Minister for Agriculture and Food Julien Denormandie, could be particularly interesting for feeding livestock.
EU solidarity
Agriculture ministers, the commissioner stated, also sought to discuss the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy in terms of how targets can be dealt with in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, in response, stated:
“We need to keep a close eye on the objectives of these policies and in the context of food security. If food security is endangered then we need to have another look at the objectives and possibly correct them.”
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue welcomed market support measures by the European Commission and the “strong solidarity shown by the EU with Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), Tim Cullinan said that Irish farmers feel a ” natural empathy” with their colleagues in Ukraine. He added that the country is highly agricultural with a climate similar to Ireland.
“The war will have serious consequences for food markets in Europe and beyond, but for the farmers of Ukraine, the ramifications are far beyond anything we face,” the IFA president concluded.