European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski has drafted an initial agri-action package with a group of European experts to address potential consequences of the war in Ukraine.
The expert meeting was originally convened to advise on the soaring prices of animal feed and fertilizers, but must now primarily focus on food security.
According to a Brussels announcement, no recommendations have yet been drafted, and the expert group will meet again on March 23, two days after the regular meeting of the 27 Ministers of Agriculture and Food. This gives Wojciechowski and French chair Julien Denormandie an opportunity to gauge ministerial support for potentially far-reaching decisions.
The group of experts consists of national specialists as well as representatives of farmers and fishers, food processors, traders, retailers, consumers, food transport services, and other allied sectors.
Ukraine is a major global supplier of wheat, maize, and vegetable oil. It is currently unclear how much of the country’s winter wheat harvest can be gathered and exported, or how much maize and sunflower crops can be planted this spring.
Wojciechowski stated that Ukraine accounts for 19 percent of EU wheat and 13 percent of its oilseeds. According to him, the loss of these imports will have a negative impact on European livestock farming.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said that whatever little Ukraine can harvest will be used to feed the people still in the country and that no exports are expected. This will most affect neighboring countries such as Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. These and other countries rely on grain and oilseeds to produce bread and animal feed.
One of the leaked proposals is to trigger market intervention and private storage in the pork industry. There is also no longer resistance to opening the approximately 500 million euro agri-crisis reserve for compensation schemes related to expensive fertilizers and animal feed.
Whether a compensation scheme for costly gas in greenhouse cultivation will be established depends on the ministers. European ambassadors have been briefed in Brussels in recent days about the forthcoming measures.
Wojciechowski previously said the European Commission will examine the objectives for sustainable food policy, including Farm to Fork. It has not yet leaked whether the expert meeting has issued any advice on this. However, it was already clear that Climate Commissioner Frans Timmermans does not want to weaken his Green Deal, although he welcomes adjustments or improvements.
“A paradigm shift is needed in the way Brussels thinks about agriculture, starting with the goals set out in Farm to Fork,” said the European umbrella organizations Copa and Cogeca last Sunday.
European farmers advocate that the European Commission abandon fallow land this spring and use all available space to cultivate grain. They also oppose any restrictions on the use of chemical agents in agriculture.
“Since the Russian government is using food security as a weapon, we must counter this with a food shield,” says Christiane Lambert, chairperson of Copa and Cogeca. The most recent European Commission data shows that approximately 5 million hectares of fallow agricultural land in the EU could be planted.
In the United States, voices are also calling to bring 22 million acres of unused land that is part of nature reserves back into agricultural use. President Biden is not yet willing to do this. Local farmers are also hesitant because much of this land lies in areas that have experienced severe drought for several years.