Aid for farmers in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

Subject: Aid for farmers in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

Aid for farmers in regional, mountainous, remote and other disadvantaged areas should be used to help preserve rural economic activities by supporting the continued use of agricultural areas.

In the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, many small farms occupy less than 10 decares of land and face serious existential threats. What is more, given that any available EU resources are distributed on the basis of farm size, these small holdings receive negligible amounts of funding which do little to support their activities.

Given that the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace is one of the poorest European regions, and given that a large part of its population earns a living from agriculture, can the Commission say:

1. Is there a grant under the CAP (and, in particular, under the second pillar) which can be used to combat regional disparities by focusing on small holdings with a view to supporting the income of farmers in disadvantaged, mountain and semi-mountainous areas, or could such a grant be created?

2. Could a Member State grant additional support to small-scale farmers who have to deal with natural or other constraints?

Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski on behalf of the European Commission (17 February 2020)

In compliance with applicable rules and regulations under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), and considering the special needs of their agriculture sector and rural areas, Member States implement their Rural Development Programmes (1)(RDP).

The current Greek RDP 2014-2020 includes support to farmers on areas with natural or specific constraints, including mountain areas. This per hectare payment is digressive according to the size of the agricultural holding, i.e. the first hectares of a farm get higher support. Other area-based support, such as support for agro-environmental-climate commitments, is available to all farmers respecting the required environmental commitments irrespective of the size of the agricultural holding.

Additionally, the Greek RDP 2014-2020 includes investment support for the development of small agricultural holdings with a threshold lower than the one defined for the general farm investment measures in order to target small investment s (2). The Greek RDP also supports processing and marketing of local products via community-led local development projects, providing additional income for farm households.

For more information or specific questions concerning the funding opportunities currently available, the Honourable Member may contact the Managing Authority of the Greek RDP 2014-2020 (3).

In addition, Greece is implementing the small farmers scheme, which is a simplified direct payments scheme replacing all other direct payments. Participating farmers are exempted from greening obligations and cross-compliance penalties.

⋅1∙ Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, OJ L 347, 20.12.2013

⋅2∙ For increasing competitiveness of the agricultural holding and targeting young farmers

⋅3∙ e-mail: [email protected] website: http://www.agrotikianaptixi.gr/