Transitional provisions relating to the support of the EAFRD and the EAGF during the year 2021 and until the implementation of the CAP reform
After mentioning the main agricultural sectors hit by the crisis, the Commissioner recalled the actions already taken by the Commission in reaction to the crisis. With regard to market interventions, the Commissioner mentioned that, at the end of the programming period, the funds available were very limited. He finally – without anything new – transferred responsibility for the action to the member states, through state aid and unrestricted funds for rural development.
The coordinators of the parliamentary groups reacted to the intervention of the Commissioner and stated:
- That the current measures are useful but insufficient;
- Finding funds is essential to support sectors during and after the crisis;
- It is necessary to use intervention measures on the markets and to use the emergency measures of the CMO regulation (art.219-222), including the crisis reserve;
- The necessary legal changes must be made so that MS can use the funds of the 2nd pillar for farms and processing companies;
- The F2F and Biodiversity strategies (except for the Greens) must be postponed until after the crisis;
- The importance of food security will need to be reflected in the future MFF.
Concerning the transitional CAP regulation, the package of amendments for crisis management and agricultural risks was not mentioned by the rapporteur Elsi Katainen, but the shadow rapporteur for the EPP underlined this point and indicated that this is an essential point for the group. She had registered before the start of the session the support of the S&D group. He had registered the support of the S&D group before the start of the session.