Video conference of agriculture and fisheries ministers, 13 May 2020

Main results

Agriculture

Ministers held an exchange of views on the effectiveness of EU measures undertaken to address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on agriculture.

Ministers took stock of the situation and assessed the various actions undertaken by the European Commission to ensure, in particular, the movement of seasonal workers, the introduction of 'green lanes', and the possibility for member states to provide higher advances of payments, increased state aid and private storage aid. Ministers welcomed these steps and highlighted the need for further measures. They identified additional areas in need of support, such as the dairy, veal, beef, poultry and wine sectors, and called for the extension of the scope of private storage aid schemes. Many ministers also called for a robust common agricultural policy budget post-2020.

The discussion also touched on current legislative proposals, in particular a proposal to amend Regulation 1305/2013 with the aim of providing liquidity to ensure the continuity of farming activities and of small businesses involved in the processing, marketing and/or development of agricultural products.

• Proposal for a regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013

Fisheries

Ministers took stock of developments related to the COVID-19 crisis in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors since their last informal meeting. They also provided information on the implementation of the current European maritime and fisheries fund (EMFF) programmes and touched upon the newly adopted regulation amending the EMFF regulation and the regulation on the common organisation of the markets.

• Regulation (EU) 2020/560

At the end of the meeting the Croatian presidency issued a press release.

• Outcomes of the video conference of agriculture and fisheries ministers (Croatian presidency website, 13 May 2020)

• COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak and the EU's response (background information)