Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Opinion

Nordic and Baltic farmers urgently need EU support

  • Farmers in the affected areas now need a promise that they will not be left to deal with the problems caused by extreme weather conditions on their own (Photo: European Parliament)

Agriculture is the single largest budget item in the European Union. Within a budget of more than €380bn, it is reasonable to expect a European ability to cope with crises and extraordinary events.

We hope that the Union will come forward with more initiatives to support farmers affected by this year's drought in northern Europe.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Farmers’ incomes are already extremely low and are continuing to decline, risking the possibility of an exodus from rural areas, especially amongst the younger generation (Photo: Pixabay)

The ongoing heatwave in northern Europe has set several meteorological records. In many areas, we are experiencing the worst drought for decades. Many farmers have long passed the point where rain would make much difference – the damages to crops and grass for silage has already been done.

In many places, farmers face losses of half their harvest or more.

The effects are already evident.

Hay prices have soared. Cattle farmers are preparing to slaughter cows in anticipation of a fodder shortage in the autumn and the winter. The situation is also severe for pig farmers.

In addition to increased grain prices, there is a poor supply of enrichment materials. Thousands of families face economic difficulties when their annual income is dramatically reduced, but their costs remain.

Of course, agriculture, like other industries, must manage annual variations, and farmers should be expected to maintain a financial margin to manage such variations. However, the impact from the current heat and drought wave has exceeded dramatically any good farmer's reasonable expectations of preparedness.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has provided both security of supply and acceptable economic conditions for farmers. But the CAP must evolve as conditions change.

Probably, European farmers will see more extreme weather events, such as prolonged drought, freezing conditions, torrential rains. We must discuss how the CAP is complemented by mechanisms to manage such events, to avoid farmers being driven into bankruptcy.

Today's regulations in the EU are not adapted to situations such as extreme drought over a long period of time. Farmers are squeezed because of a regulatory framework that they cannot cope with on these occasions.

In addition, it takes a long time to get compensation, for example, due to the requirement of extensive documentation.

We welcome different initiatives by the commission, such as early payments and relaxed harvesting rules. However, it must be stated that these are not enough.

Early payments are vital to secure a farmer's liquidity, but they do not solve the fundamental problem of extreme loss of income. Early harvesting and the harvesting of ecological focus areas will contribute to an improved fodder situation, but cattle and pig farmers must still buy more fodder at increasing prices following the shortage.

We also welcome relaxed regulations on government subsidies, giving national governments the opportunity to intervene, but this must be considered an anomaly in a policy completely managed at the European level.

The Union has intervened with a flexible use of regulations before. Last year, for example, additional support measures for certain agricultural sectors, such as fruit, vegetables and dairy, were financed from the existing budget.

Special focus on natural catastrophes

While the difficulties from these sectors were common across the Union, caused by market conditions, we think that regional cross-border natural catastrophes should also be eligible for special consideration by the Union.

We thus urge the commission to continue to assess different measures to alleviate the situation for farmers in the affected countries.

The commission must start drawing conclusions from the ongoing event. This is not the last major regional crises for European farmers. The CAP must encompass mechanisms to deal with these situations systematically, rather than trying to get by through ad hoc decisions every time.

Agricultural organisations in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden have drawn attention to this crisis.

EU commissioner Phil Hogan, responsible for agricultural issues, has already reacted and signalled a continued willingness to find solutions.

This is very appreciated. We hope that further action will enable farmers to take the necessary farming decisions without being restricted by EU rules, which are based on farming in an average year.

This year has proven to be everything but an "average year". Instead, it has been an exceptional year. That calls for exceptional decisions.

Nicolaj Christoffersen is head of meat sector with the Danish Agriculture & Food Council and Viktoria Ostlund is senior advisor at the Federation of Swedish Farmers Meat

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

Progressive CAP alternative only hope for sustainability

We see the new CAP as spelling the death of rural communities, the acceleration of the rural exodus, the consolidation of big agribusinesses, jeopardising public health standards and turning binding climate change targets into optional goals for member states.

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us