The entire European agriculture and food supply chain is facing profound consequences from Russia’s war against Ukraine. The sanctions against Russian banks and companies will also be felt by EU citizens and businesses.
We will notice it in our wallets and pay for it in euros, but the Ukrainians feel it firsthand and pay with their lives, said Chairman Norbert Lins of the European Agriculture Committee on Monday in Brussels.
AGRI senior official Michael Scannell made clear in a brief overview that Putin’s war in Ukraine is not only currently affecting the agricultural and horticultural sector but will also lead to profound changes in the coming years. According to him, the EU must prepare for an agricultural and food industry without imports of Russian energy (gas and oil) and Russian raw materials.
Almost all members of the agriculture committee supported the European Commission’s measures of recent days against the regime of the Russian president. They also acknowledged ‘that we will have to pay part of the price as well.’
A special meeting of the Agriculture and Food Ministers will take place on Wednesday in Brussels. At that Agriculture Council, the French presidency will present ‘a letter’ putting the entire European food security and independence from Russian energy and raw materials extensively on the agenda.
In the short term, exports of Russian and Ukrainian grain will come to a halt. Both countries account for about 30 percent of the world’s grain trade. So far, there is no damage to loading and transshipment facilities in the Russian and Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which according to unconfirmed reports have been blocked with naval mines, causing insurance companies to cease coverage for shipments.
Due to the current hostilities, not only can the current harvest in Ukraine not be collected, processed, and shipped, but summer grain cannot be sown either. As a result, the next harvest will also be lost, while the pig and poultry sectors will also be affected.
According to initial studies by the European Commission, trade with Russia will also be significantly disrupted. With the loss of payment traffic for ‘ordinary’ trade (excluding gas and oil), exports of fruit, flowers, and plants will suffer further blows.
Ukraine and Russia are not only two of Europe’s largest food exporters but also major suppliers of energy (gas and oil) and agricultural raw materials (fertilizer). It is expected that purchase prices, which have already risen sharply in recent months, will increase even further. Dutch Member of the European Parliament Bert-Jan Ruissen (SGP) has already asked the European Commission to start assembling ‘support packages for the most affected sectors’ and to allocate funds for this in the EU budget.
Ruissen also called for a reconsideration of the farm-to-fork food strategy, now that Europe must work towards complete food self-sufficiency. Others, such as German MEP Martin Häusling (Greens), advocated accelerating efforts towards sustainable energy supply of their own and reducing the import and use of (Russian) fertilizers.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier that the EU must accelerate the Green Deal. Investing in renewable EU energy was until now mainly an environmental issue, but due to Putin’s advance it has become a military-strategic necessity, von der Leyen said.
MEP Peter van Dalen (Christian Union) believes the European Union, together with its allies, should maximize the use of all sanctions. “The war criminal in the Kremlin deserves the harshest possible punishment and must be summoned before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, as well as the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.”