Informal Agri-Fisheries Council: call for a second package of exceptional market measures

Guided by Croatia’s Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković, delegations held an exchange of views on measures already taken to counteract the impact of the virus as well as possible future actions at national & European level. European Agriculture & Fisheries Ministers called on the European Commission to table a second package of exceptional market measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the agri-food & fisheries sectors. And they were splited on agri crisis reserve’s activation.

During the “informal” debate, a number of delegations – AT, LV, LT, LU, PL, CZ, SK, CY, PT, BG, FR, IT, BE, HU, RO & IE – said further financial resources were needed to activate private storage aid & other measures for sectors worst hit such as poultry, pigmeat, potatoes, wine, ornamental horticulture & veal (with the NL, IT, FR & BE particularly vociferous on the latter, backed by IE). Hungary’s State Secretary Zsolt Feldman also made a case for the extension of eligible products for PSA to UHT milk (plus poultry & pigmeat), while Cypriot Minister Costas Kadis referred specifically to the extension of CMO measures to other sectors such as pigmeat, poultry & eggs.