European Commission measures to support farmers with low yields due to extreme weather events

Subject: European Commission measures to support farmers with low yields due to extreme weather events

The floods in Thessaly, along with drought and very high temperatures in other areas, have had a dramatic impact on primary production.

Specifically, there were significantly lower yields of basic agricultural commodities such as cereals, corn, cotton, olives, fruit and grapes compared to previous years.

This threatens farmers’ income and the economic viability of areas such as Thessaly that are reliant on the rural economy. It also poses a risk to food security in the EU.

The common agricultural policy includes provisions and resources to address extreme adverse weather events or sudden and unforeseen risks. However, these resources are insufficient to deal with increasingly frequent extreme weather events and their effects on production. Immediate and medium-term measures are therefore imperative in order to provide meaningful support and relief to the farmers affected.

In view of the above:

1. What will the Commission do to support agricultural income in the short term and address the economic damage caused to the region by such events? Will it announce an emergency support package?

2. Is it considering the possibility of bolstering the agricultural reserve and creating a new fund dedicated exclusively to covering production losses caused by the climate crisis?

Submitted: 9.12.2024

Answer given by Mr Hansen on behalf of the European Commission

(10 February 2025)

1. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan Regulation (1) already includes a number of interventions that may help farmers to perform preventive actions especially to prevent crises and build on medium and long-term resilience. For mitigating short-term impacts, the available tools include direct payments, which represent the biggest share of the CAP budget and support farmers’ incomes, risk management tools helping farmers manage production risks due to adverse weather events, as well as sectoral interventions supporting replanting or restocking, and investments in the restoration of production potential. Under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 (CSP) (2), in addition to direct payments, Greece envisages also support for investments to restore agricultural and forestry potential following natural disasters, adverse climatic or catastrophic events.

2. Moreover, on 19 December 2024 (3) the Commission’s proposal amending Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 (4) was adopted by the co-legislators to allow Member States to provide liquidity support to beneficiaries affected in 2024 by natural disasters and a destruction of at least 30% of the relevant production potential. It will be up to the Member States to decide if they will use this new support possibility under their Rural Development Programmes 2014-2022.

The design of the future Multiannual Financial Framework and its instruments lies ahead. The Common Agricultural Policy must become simpler and more targeted and find the right balance between incentives, investments and regulation. The priority will be to strengthen the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the agricultural sector.

1 ∙ ⸱ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?toc=OJ%3AL%3A2021%3A435%3ATOC&uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2021.435.01.0001.01.ENG

2 ∙ ⸱ https://www.agrotikianaptixi.gr/category/sskap-2023-2027/sskap-egkrisi-tropopoiiseis/

3 ∙ ⸱ Regulation (EU) 2024/3242 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 as regards specific

measures under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to provide additional assistance to Member States affected by natural disasters; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32024R3242&qid=1735899275178 4 ∙ ⸱ Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 December 2020 laying down certain transitional provisions for support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) in the years 2021 and 2022 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 as regards resources and application in the years 2021 and 2022 and Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards resources and the distribution of such support in respect of the years 2021 and 2022 https://eur- lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/2220/oj/eng