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Brussels package of measures for food security
The European Commission is launching a package of measures to ensure food security as the 'Russian invasion has further disrupted already fragile agricultural markets'. For example, the Commission is granting an exemption from greening obligations to use fallow land as agricultural land. This has little effect for the Netherlands because of catch crops, but there are opportunities in countries such as France. The Commission is also coming up with a €500 million support package for affected farmers, but it remains unclear who can claim it.
Today (March 23) the European Commission presented a view on food security and a package of measures, which still need to be worked out further. One of the things the Commission does is through the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) support countries to provide food and/or other necessary goods to those who need it most. Safety net measures are also being implemented to support specific markets with higher advances on direct payments later this year. There will also be a new standalone Temporary Crisis Framework (TCF) for state aid.
European Member States are also encouraged to use the new plans in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to prioritize investments that reduce dependence on gas, fuel, plant protection products and fertilisers. In addition, the Commission calls on Member States to optimize social safety nets for people in need.
Halve substance use
Today, the European Commission is also supposed to submit a bill to halve the use of plant protection products by 2030 (compared to the average of 2015, 2016 and 2017). That has now been moved on the agenda to 'before summer'. It is unclear exactly what this means for the trajectory. In any case, the Commission will continue to stick to the biodiversity and Farm-to-fork strategy, as the European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski let know. Without the transition set out therein "food security will be seriously jeopardized in the medium and long term, with irreversible consequences worldwide", the Commission now states.
The European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) wrote a letter to European Commissioner Frans Timmermans last week, emphasizing that pursuing the objectives of 'Farm to fork' in the European Green Deal is to reduce the environmental and climate footprint of the European food system and ensure food security. “In our position as legislators, we must do everything we can to help European citizens - and in particular all participants in the food chain, be they farmers, consumers and marketers - out of the crisis by striving for a more sustainable and resilient food production that is independent , both in the short and long term," according to ENVI.
Linda van Eekeres
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