Support for farmers
Romania to receive 30 million euros from the European Commission to support farmers.
Corina Cristea, 27.06.2023, 13:50
The inflow of Ukrainian cereals into five neighbouring EU states convinced Brussels to approve temporary commercial restrictions and financial support for the respective countries. Aid worth 56 million euros was approved at the end of March and now the European Commission has approved a further 100 million euros for farmers in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The aid, which is allocated from the Unions reserve fund, comes as imports from Ukraine have filled storage facilities to cause a drop in prices on these markets, destabilising farmers.
The European Commission initially proposed granting a new tranche as early as mid April, but its proposal did not receive the green light from a number of countries who requested clarifications about the calculation criteria and the allocation of funds. The biggest beneficiaries of the aid are Poland, with almost 40 million euros, and Romania, with 30 million, while the deadline for making the payment to farmers is 30th September. Together, the two packages bring Romanian farmers around 40 million euros, to which the government has the Commissions approval to add a similar amount.
Moreover, at the beginning of June, Brussels authorised the five states to extend by 15th September their restriction measures preventing the selling on their territory of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower from Ukraine, on condition they do not block the transiting of these cereals to other countries. The measures were strongly criticised by almost half of EU member states, who, in a joint letter, said they were worried about what they described as preferential treatment on the internal market.
The promise of the EU commissioner for agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski to activate the rest of the agricultural crisis reserve for the other 22 member states eventually led the latter to overcome their reservations and agree on the 100-million euro package. The 22 EU member states will thus be able to divide among them 330 million euros to help their own farmers cope with current crises, such as the direct impact of the war in Ukraine leading to an increase in the price of energy and fertilisers, as well as the recent flooding in Italy and the drought affecting the entire continent. The European Commission has also detailed the distribution proposed for this package. Spain is to be the main beneficiary, with around 81 million euros, followed by Italy with 60 million, France with 53 million and Germany with almost 36 million. Each country will be allowed to triple the EU aid through national funding. This package worth 330 million euros needs to be officially approved at the next meeting of the representatives of EU member states, said the European Commission. (CM)
