€125 million for EU agriculture

The European Union (EU) is making €125 million available to assist the agriculture sector face Russia’s ban on Western imports.

EU’s Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said today that emergency measures under the Common Agriculture Policy would be implemented, which allow the removal of surplus products from the market, which can then distributed free, while farmers are compensated.

The measure would run from now until the end of November.

Among the products that this will apply to are tomatoes, cauliflowers, mushrooms, grapes, cucumbers and other products for which storage options are lacking and for which there are no alternative markets since Russia’s pull out.

Agriculturists have seen sharp declines in their revenue since Russia declared a one-year embargo on meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from western countries in retaliation for Western economic sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

In the Netherlands blowback losses were expected to top €1.5 to €2 billion,with the Russian boycott pushing prices for produce from here toward bottom. The agriculturist organization has called for at least €1 billion in support for the sector. The cabinet has meanwhile announced last week that it would not leave farmers out in the cold.