The European Commission extends the license for state aid to agricultural and fishing producers

By: STA Date: 2024. 05. 03. 10:00

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The European Commission will extend by six months the temporary measures that allow the governments of EU member states to pay state aid to agricultural and fishing producers affected by market disturbances, the Brussels body announced on Thursday.

(Photo: Pixabay)

According to the decision, the national governments can give financial support of up to 280,000 euros to agricultural enterprises struggling with difficulties, and a state subsidy of no more than 335,000 euros to companies dealing with fishing and aquaculture. The temporary crisis management framework for state aid adopted in March 2022 enabled the member states to support the economy by taking advantage of the flexibility provided by the state aid rules in connection with the war in Ukraine. Margrethe Vestager, the EU Commissioner responsible for competition policy, highlighted in her press release: “with this decision, the European Commission has once again shown that it can act quickly and gives more time to the Member States to provide the necessary support to help farmers and fishermen, who still have a special will face challenges due to market disruption caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine”. At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that temporary state support tools should be limited to dealing with needs arising in specific crisis situations. The commission also announced that it would review the level of aid for which member states do not need to seek the board’s approval.

Several EU member states requested that this limit be raised from the current 20,000 to 50,000 euros. Farmers across Europe are protesting against more and more regulations imposed on them by the EU’s Green Deal, which they say have increased their costs, as well as unfair competition from foreign imports, particularly from Ukraine.

MTI