The European Commission has today (Wednesday, February 19) confirmed it will distribute emergency support totaling €98.6 million to farmers in Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia and Hungary who have been "impacted by exceptional, adverse climatic events" and natural disasters".
The financial support will come from the agricultural reserve and the commission said its objective is to support farmers in these countries "who have experienced a loss in production and, as a consequence, a loss of income".
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has an agricultural reserve of €450 million per year which can be used in relation to support farmers and producers cope with "market disruptions or exceptional events".
The majority of the financial support package is earmarked for Spain which will get €68 million but €16.2 million will also go to Hungary, €6.7 million to Croatia, €4.2 million to Latvia and €3.5 million to Cyprus.
According to the European Commission the package demonstrates the EU's "continued solidarity with affected farmers and can be complemented by up to 200% of national funds".
The aid must be distributed by national governments by September 30, 2025 and authorities have been urged to ensure that "farmers are the ultimate beneficiaries".
Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia and Hungary must also notify the commission by May 31, 2025 about the details of the measures that will be implemented.
"This includes the criteria used to determine the granting of individual aid, the intended impact of the measure, the forecasts for payments broken down per month until the end of September, and the level of additional support to be provided," the commission set out.
"The notification should also indicate the actions taken to avoid distortion of competition and overcompensation."
Farmers throughout Europe, including in Ireland, struggled to battle difficult weather conditions during 2024 - the Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed that 2024 was “the warmest year on record globally”.
But the European Commission said that farmers in Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, and Hungary had been particularly impacted by weather events.
It detailed that Spain experienced rain deficit and extreme heat during the summer of 2024, leading to drought and then heavy storms hit the country in late October and early November 2024.
These brought devastating floods which in turn impacted on the production in the fruit and vegetable, wine, olive, and livestock sectors.
Meanwhile Cyprus also experienced significant low rainfall and high temperatures in the first half of 2024, leading to dry conditions that affected the production in sectors such as cereals, olives, and fruits and vegetables.
Latvia also suffered a mix of record-low winter temperatures, spring frost, and heavy summer rain, impacting cereals, rapeseed, fruit, vegetables, and potatoes.
Both Croatia and Hungary faced extremely high temperatures and drought during summer of 2024, affecting maize, sunflower, soya, sugar beet, fruit, potatoes, and wine production.