When consumers buy fewer eggs and poultry due to avian flu, in future it will be possible for the farmers affected to receive aid co-financed by the EU. At the EU Agriculture Council meeting on Tuesday in Luxembourg, all EU Member States came out in favour of a corresponding amendment to the market regulation. The Austrian EU Presidency has succeeded in creating an appropriate European legal framework for the adversely affected poultry sector in a record time of about one month. "We promised the poultry farmers that we would not leave them in the lurch, and we have kept our word. We reacted quickly, and have created the legal conditions for special measures“, Austria’s Agriculture Minister and EU Council President Josef Pröll told the AIZ (Agricultural Information Centre) today.
Planned measures in Austria
For Austria, Pröll also announced two things: first of all, a deferral of repayments of agricultural investment loans, and secondly, an invitation to the poultry sector to discussions about how the package of measures can be used optimally. "In Austria, we will be considering how the situation looks, and which measures would be most helpful to curb the losses“, announced Pröll.
Aid for future serious disruption of the market
Until now, farmers could only receive compensation if they were directly affected by an epidemic outbreak. That was how the market regulation worked. In future, aid will also be possible in the event of serious disruption of the market. The Member States can apply for aid to the Poultry Management Committee in Brussels. The Commission must examine and approve the application.
Measures start at the beginning of the production chain
The measures for the poultry sector start with "buy-outs" of eggs and parent birds as close as possible to the beginning of the production chain. This procedure is favoured by the EU Commission. But farmers who leave their poultry houses empty longer than planned will also be able to receive aid. Subsidies to private storage facilities are more controversial, since this does not solve the problem of surpluses, but only postpones it. But even subsidies to private storage facilities are not being ruled out from the outset. An application by a Member State for this type of aid is possible in any case, the Commission has stated. The Commission also wants to audit national programmes which have already started. France and Italy have been pushing for retroactive approval.
50% co-financing of aids
The 50% co-financing of aid for poultry farmers was controversial in the Council of Ministers. Many ministers were pushing in the Council meeting for the Commission to pay 100% of the costs, as ultimately this was an EU market regulation in the first pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). As expected, the Commission rejected this proposal. It argued that it was an extended veterinary measure. For measures to relieve the effects of disease, the EU and the Member State concerned share the costs.Since the Commission was not prepared to move on this point, ultimately all Member States approved the Commission proposal.
Avian flu situation report: H5N1 now in 13 EU Member States
The Commission also presented a written report to the ministers about the current situation of avian flu in Europe. So far, the H5N1 strain of the virus has been found in 13 EU Member States – mainly in wild birds. In Sweden, Germany and France, poultry stocks were also affected.
WTO decision postponed until the summer
A postponement of the deadline for a detailed agreement by the World Trade Organisation was announced yesterday in Geneva, and was confirmed today at the EU Agriculture Council. No precise date for reaching the agreement was announced. The negotiations should enter another decisive phase between mid-June and the end of July. The ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, called on all WTO partners to table new proposals in the near future.
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