Draft rules for most of the other measures have also been presented to Member States and will formally be approved in the coming days and weeks. The largest part of the package is a targeted aid scheme worth €420 million, which is allocated to Member States.
To aid cash-flow difficulties, the Commission has also published a new Implementing Regulation which provides more flexibility to Member States to pay out earlier a greater share than usual of the Common Agricultural Policy Direct Payments and area related payments from Rural Development. In addition to this, the Commission has finalised texts related to reinforced Private Storage Aid schemes for certain dairy products to address the market imbalance and increased funding for promotion especially on non-EU markets (+ €30 million).
Furthermore, the Commission continues to monitor closely the pigmeat market and is ready to activate an enhanced Private Storage Aid scheme for pigmeat. In a further initiative, led by DG ECHO, the Commission is moving to provide €30 million to support the nutritional requirements of refugeeswithin the EU.
Commissioner Phil Hogan said: "As part of this package is aimed at addressing the more short-term cash-flow problems that many farmers face, I am delighted that we have been able to move so quickly. It is now up to national administrations to ensure that objective criteria are defined and the funds are able to reach farmers without delay."
More information is available on the DG AGRI website here.
