The Commission has agreed to offer the bulk of the package (€420 million) as targeted aid to the 28 Member States (MS). Each MS will be responsible for allocating the aid to farmers.
The majority of the funds (80%) will be distributed to the MS based on the milk quotas in the last quota year. The remaining 20% is distributed in recognition of the additional assistance required by farmers that are particularly affected by the fall in pigmeat prices, the impact of the Russian ban, the very low milk prices and the summer’s drought.
This means that 65% of the allocation will go to just seven MS. Germany will receive the biggest portion with €69.2m, followed by France €62.9m, United Kingdom €36.1m, The Netherlands €29.9m, Poland €28.9m, Spain €25.5m and Italy €25m.
In addition to the targeted aid, the Commission also announced it would buy around €30m of milk products from European farmers for redistribution to refugees.The Commission would also allow EU countries to advance 70% of EU subsidies to farmers instead of the current 50% allowance from mid-October.
Changes to the Private Storage Aid (PSA) scheme have also been tabled with the aid rate for skimmed milk powder to be increased by over 100% and the storage period fixed for a year. The current storage period is between 3-7 months.
AHDB Dairy said the new PSA scheme for cheese will provide for a total amount of 100,000 tonnes and would be allocated based on each MS’s respective cheese production. Unused allocations will be made available for redistribution after three months to other MS’s.
The support package has been funded from “existing margins within the 2016 CAP budget” where a significant portion came from a larger than expected surplus levy payment.
Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan said that the emergency package is an “exceptional” measure, indicating that it is unlikely to be repeated next year.
