The European Commission has announced on 7 September 2015 a support package worth €500 million in response to the difficulties faced by European farmers. This support package available under the Common Agricultural Policy is meant to: 1) address the cash-flow difficulties faced by farmers 2) stabilise markets 3) address the functioning of the supply chain.
1) The European Commission will propose to designate an important part of the funds to the dairy sector of all Member States. Particular attention will be given to those Member States whose dairy sector has most been affected.
2) In order to help farmers in short term cash flow difficulties, the European Commission will propose to increase the advance of direct payment from 50% to 70%. The area and animal-related payments for rural development should rise from 75% to 85%. The measures meant to stabilise market will address the storage facilities and promotion programmes for dairy protein products and pig meat.
3) To tackle supply chain challenges, the EC will set up a High Level Group to focus on issues like the credit for farmers, and financial and risk hedging instruments such as futures markets for agricultural products.
According to the European Commission, these announcements should be seen in the context of support provided to the agricultural sector in response to the impact of the Russian ban.
More information about all the measures can be found here
22 September 2015
