“[Irish farmers] will be the special consideration of the European Union” if there is a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario.
That’s according to European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski who was today (Wednesday December 16) responding to a question from AgriLand which requested the commissioner to outline what specific support measures would be implemented for Irish farmers from January 1, 2021 if a deal with the UK is not reached before then.
“First of all, what kind of support will be needed? This is the initial thing for the Irish government, the Irish partners, the farmers’ organisation etc,” Commissioner Wojciechowski said.
I know that Ireland is in an especially difficult situation because this is very much dependent [on] the market… [on] the UK market.
“We know the situation, but not only Ireland – many member states export their products into the UK and we need to have the special attention to this talking, but it’s difficult to say now because we don’t know what will be the final decision and the final consequences of the situation.
“But of course as commissioner for agriculture I know that the situation is very serious and that our farmers probably, if there will be ‘no deal’ – will need more support; Irish farmers, but not only Irish farmers – it’s a problem for the whole of Europe, not for all member states but there are many member states can be affected if there is a ‘no deal’ Brexit,” the commissioner said.
EU agri outlook
His comments follow the publication of the EU agricultural outlook 2020-2030 by the European Commission.
The outlook indicates that meat consumption levels will fall by approximately 1kg per person per annum over the next decade.
Also Read: EU meat consumption levels to take a hit over the next decadeThe latest projections only factor in those trading arrangements which the EU has formally entered into with other countries around the world.
“There is no commission idea to stop meat consumption or to reduce meat consumption or to order consumer behaviour or their diets, but my responsibility as a commissioner for agriculture is to support more sustainable reduction of food also including meat production,” Commissioner Wojciechowski said.
“This is the reason that we support, for example, a short supply chain – this is very important – we transport across Europe each year more than 3 billion tonnes of agri and food products. We can effectively reduce the scale of the transport, supporting a short supply chain.
This is our intention… to create higher animal welfare standards, less intensive farming, less concentration of production.
“It is also my strong personal feeling that we can achieve a lot by supporting sustainable production; small scale farming; to make shorter the distance from farm to fork,” the commissioner said.