Estonia fails to secure larger EU crisis aid for farmers
Recently a vote was held in Brussels on the use of €540 million from the agricultural crisis reserve. The opposition of Estonia and other like‑minded countries to the scheme under which money is allocated did not succeed.
The rise in prices of fertilizers and other goods caused by the Middle East crisis has put European farmers in a difficult situation, which is why the European Commission proposed paying them crisis aid.
When calculating the shares for countries, the ceilings of direct payments were taken into account, and in Estonia these are among the lowest. Therefore Estonia did not support the scheme, but it went ahead nonetheless.
The vote concerned the granting of crisis aid and whether the allocation key — under which each member state receives a certain amount for providing aid — is suitable.
"Estonia abstained because we assessed that the allocation key was not appropriate. Since our direct payment levels are lower than the EU average and our dependence on imported fertilizer is very high compared to other member states, our share could have been larger. This was the main reason why we abstained," said Madis Pärtel, deputy secretary general at the Ministry of Rural Affairs.
"This means that the draft was adopted, and everything goes according to the Commission's plan. It caused us some disappointment, but in fact one must be satisfied that the Commission reacted quickly and came to the aid of producers, so I think that is the main outcome."
"The Middle East crisis has affected many producers, especially crop growers, who have been hit by the rise in input prices. This includes fertilizers and fuel prices, and to some extent also the prices of plant protection products. This is the main target group," said Pärtel.
He added that the entire food supply chain, from primary production to processing industry, has been affected, because the processing industry uses a lot of energy, whose prices have risen, and the cost of packaging availability has also increased.
Estonia was allocated €3.1 million, and it is possible to add 200 percent from the state budget. This procedure requires that the funds be paid out by February 2027.
Pärtel said that the ministry, together with agricultural representative organizations, will determine the exact damages that should be compensated. This will certainly take some time. The second question concerns whether it is possible to add national funds to the EU support.
"We will try to formulate a decision with the minister and the government in the coming weeks. In the background, it must be said that the state budget situation is not very good, so in that sense we will certainly assess these possibilities. But it is too early to say whether the state will add to this or not."
Pärtel said that the grain sector has been hit the hardest in Estonia, and it must be examined in more detail. "At the same time, the entire growing season and harvest are still ahead, so it will likely be clearer in a few months what the impacts on the grain sector actually are, and then we will be better able to develop the scheme."
--
Editor: Urmet Kook, Argo Ideon
