On 8 September, Agriculture Ministers of all EU Member States met in Dublin for an informal meeting. The meeting included an updated from Christophe Hansen, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, on the drought conditions affecting farmers in several parts of Europe. You can find the press release of the Irish Presidency of the Council here and an article from Euractiv on this topic here.
Key mentions of irrigation :
Commissioner Hansen mentioned that he wants agriculture included in the European integrated framework for climate resilience, which will be published by the end of this year.
EU farmers have been calling on Brussels to provide additional financial support, but no new EU funding was announced during the meeting. Instead, Commissioner Hansen pointed to the flexibility already available under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), referring to guidance set out in a letter sent to EU ministers last week. This letter specifically mentions that “ongoing work under the Water Resilience Strategy is supporting investments and action in this field, including the reorientation of Cohesion Funds towards water resilience, funding and advisory support through the European Investment Bank, and further initiatives to promote irrigation efficiency, water reuse, digital solutions and farmers’ skills in water resilience.”
Additionally, Commissioner Hansen also highlighted that the EU must continue to invest in resilient agriculture and the Commission’s proposal for the next CAP would enable investments in “more efficient irrigation, precision technologies and healthier soils that can retain more water”.
Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas also stressed the need for the EU to focus on “the modernisation of irrigation systems, water management, risk management, and new genomic techniques”.
