The European Commission has allocated €77 million in emergency support to farmers in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Portugal.
The funding from the EU agricultural reserve will support farmers working in the fruit, vegetable and wine sectors.
The commission said that the farmers in Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland “have recently suffered from adverse climatic events of unprecedented magnitude”.
During the spring, orchards and vineyards in these countries were affected by “unprecedented frost” which had followed unusually mild temperatures in March. Additional damage was caused in Poland by hail.
“The areas and the share of production concerned is significant and endangers the economic viability of the impacted agricultural holdings,” the commission said.
Meanwhile, wine producers in Portugal are suffering from market imbalances that could turn into a prolonged and wider crisis.
The current unprecedented accumulation of stocks in Portugal is caused by a decrease in sales of red wine combined with an increase in production last year.
The support package presented by the commission will fund temporary crisis distillation to remove some of the excess volumes and rebalance the market.
Farmers
The commission’s proposals, which have been accepted by member states, will allocate €10 million to Austria, €15 million to the Czech Republic, €37 million to Poland, and €15 million to Portugal.
The proposal allows these countries to complement this EU support by up to 200% with national funds.
The commission has stated that payments from the emergency financial support must be made to farmers by January 31, 2025, while the aid to Portuguese wine producers must be paid by April 30, 2025.
Commenting on the aid, European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, said:
“With this emergency support, the European Commission will provide much-needed aid to our farmers in Austria, Czechia, Poland, and Portugal.
“The major climatic and market disturbances endured by these farmers illustrate once again the importance of a strong agricultural reserve in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget, to reinforce stability in the face of increasingly severe and unpredictable crises.
“The stability of our farmers is fundamental for the stability of our society. Therefore, now and in the future, the commission will stand with them in their times of need.”