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On 22/04/2020, the European Commission adopted market measures to help the agri-food sector during the pandemic crisis. These measures were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 04/05/2020, in particular the regulations on: opening a temporary exceptional private storage aid scheme for certain cheeses and fixing the amount of aid in advance; on temporary exceptional measures derogating from certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council to address the market disturbance in the fruit and vegetables and wine sectors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and measures linked to it; authorising agreements and decisions on market stabilisation measures in the potatoes sector; authorising agreements and decisions on market stabilisation measures in the live trees and other plants, bulbs, roots and the like, cut flowers and ornamental foliage sector; granting aid for private storage for sheepmeat and goatmeat and fixing the amount of the aid in advance; granting aid for private storage for fresh and chilled meat of bovine animals aged eight months or more and fixing the amount of aid in advance; granting aid for private storage for butter and fixing the amount of aid in advance; granting aid for private storage for skimmed milk powder and fixing the amount of aid in advance; authorising agreements and decisions on the planning of production in the milk and milk products sector; and on emergency measures derogating from Articles 62 and 66 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the validity of vine planting authorisations and the grubbing up in case of anticipated replanting.
In addition to these measures, the Commission has proposed to allow Member States to use envelope funding for rural development programs to compensate farmers and small farms for losses of up to € 5,000 and € 50,000. This support can be provided as a complement to de minimis and reinforced state aid. The market measures published in the Official Journal entered into force on 05/05/2020, the proposal to use the envelope resources for rural development will have to be approved by the Council and the European Parliament.
More information is available here and here.

Last week, the United States provided the agricultural sector with a third support package in response to the expansion of the COVID-19. The first $ 14 billion package was designed to strengthen major agricultural support programs, and the second $ 19 billion package was split to support direct payments ($ 16 billion) and commodity purchases ($ 3 billion). So far, last package amounts to $ 470 million, most of the support will be provided to the dairy sector ($ 120 million), but the support will also cover potatoes, chicken and turkey, pork, fruit, and fish. The European think tank Farm Europe compared aid paid in the US and the EU per farmer, stressing that the aid in the EU promised to the agricultural sector amounts to € 80 million. In terms of farmers, the US provides € 15,415 (€ 73 per hectare), the European Union provides only € 8 per farmer (€ 0.5 per hectare).

José Manuel Sánchez-Vizcaíno, a leading expert on African Swine Fever (ASF) from the Complutense University in Madrid, warns of the risks of importing pork from China. ASF in China has affected almost 40% of the pig population, with some infected pieces entering slaughterhouses, according to Sánchez-Vizcaíno. There have been seizures in the European Union of meat containing ASF and imported from China; In connection with the spread of the ASF, imports of selected pork products from China to the EU fell by more than 45% in the first months of 2020 compared to last year's figures. Sánchez-Vizcaíno believes that in the next 5 years, the ASF will be eradicated thanks to the development of a vaccine that could be available on the market in 1.5-2 years.
More information is available here.

On 28/04/2020, the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development approved rules for the CAP transitional period, MEPs supported the maintenance of the current CAP rules for another 2 years (until 2022, if no agreement is reached on the Multiannual Financial Framework and the CAP by 30/10/2020), funding should be provided from the new budget. The Committee supported the provision of an adequate CAP budget (rejected the reduction of the CAP budget), supported the strengthening of Member States' flexibility in co-financing and the use of agri-environment measures, and emphasized the need to strengthen market measures to address coronavirus market distortions. The proposal by French MEP Manuel Bompard (GUE/NGL) to cap direct payments was rejected by a vote of 15 in favour, 30 against, 3 abstentions. The proposal to extend the transitional state aid for the duration of the transitional period was also not approved. MEPs supported the continuation of internal convergence of direct payments by 33 votes to 12, with 3 abstentions; the continuation of external convergence, however, was rejected by a vote of 20 in favour, 26 against, 2 abstentions. The opinion should be approved by the plenary of the European Parliament in mid-May 2020 and should then be discussed in a trialogue between Parliament, the Commission and the Council.
More information is available here.

The European Commission is preparing an EU Biodiversity Strategy, the presentation of the strategy is currently planned for 20/05/2020. The strategy will also have a major impact on EU agricultural policy. According to current informal information (the strategy is still under discussion, specific values may still change), the European Commission is considering the following targets: by 2030, at least 25% of the total area of agricultural land should be farmed organically; at least 30% of the total land and sea area should be covered by some environmental protection (currently 26% and 11%); at least 10% of the total area of agricultural land should be in the non-production regime (non-production elements, landscape elements, etc.); a 50% reduction in the volume of chemical pesticides used and the risks associated with them, as well as a reduction in high-risk pesticides, should reach 50%; the reduction in the volume of nitrogen used (in connection with the use of fertilizers) should decrease by at least 20%. By 2022, the Commission should present an Action Plan for Integrated Nutrient Management. The strategy should be presented together with the Farm to Fork Strategy, but due to the planned discussion of the Multiannual Financial Framework on 13/05/2020, there could be a further slight delay in the submission of strategies (20/05/2020 is still valid for the time being).