The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, affirmed that the European Commission (EC) is studying the implementation of new measures to ease the pressure on EU agricultural producers, who are going through "a very difficult" situation, he said.
"Clearly, there is a common understanding about the crisis in a number of sectors," pointed out Hogan in a press conference after the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the European Union (EU).
"As Commissioner, I am not satisfied with the present situation of our growers and acknowledge that in addition to a response from the Member States, another one from the EU is also needed," he said.
Hogan explained that the Council agreed on "the need to consider the introduction of new and innovative measures in order to deal with the situation, in addition to the ones already enforced by the EC."
The Dutch presidency has issued a call to all member countries to submit their ideas up until 25 February, after which the EC will evaluate them and take into consideration "what else could be done to relieve the current pressure on EU producers."
The Commissioner recalled that these measures will have to meet three conditions: to be in line with the legal framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), to remain within the financial limits and to receive ample support from all member countries.
"Until the next council, we have an opportunity to intensify our efforts to identify possible solutions to this very difficult situation, always with these three limitations in mind," he added.
The situation has lasted for "longer than expected," he admitted during the press conference, in which he explained that not only has he received an interesting proposal from the French minister, Stéphane Le Foll, ahead of the next meeting, which will be held in March, but also from Spain, Poland and Cyprus.
Hogan vowed to have "an open mind to listen to all options and ideas" that can help alleviate the situation of EU growers."
The Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Isabel García Tejerina, asked the EU for "additional support measures" for producers to help them tackle the market crises in the fruit and vegetable sector.
