Agrifood news from around Europe
ITALY
The Italian government has issued a much-awaited €55 billion new stimulus package that will include €1.15 billion in support for the agri-food sector. In the press conference, Italy’s Agriculture Minister was moved to tears announcing the agreement reached on the regularisation of illegal migrant workers, adding that the State will now be stronger than ‘caporalato’, an Italian word for the exploitative conditions of migrants working on farms. (Gerardo Fortuna | EURACTIV.com)
GERMANY
The coronavirus running rampant in German slaughterhouses has sparked a fierce debate about the working conditions in these plants. On Monday (11 May), the Greens requested a debate in the Bundestag on the topic which will be held on Thursday. Florence Schulz has more. (EURACTIV.de)
SPAIN
Spanish MEP Izaskun Bilbao, member of the group Renew Europe in the EP, said in an interview with Efeagro this week that the COVID-19 pandemic requires immediate responses to help the EU’s agricultural and fisheries sector. EURACTIV’s partner, EFE Ago, has the story.
CROATIA
A combination of low demand, low prices and increasing losses mean that the domestic livestock sector in Croatia is struggling, warns an analysis from consulting company, Smarter. Karla Juničić has more. (EURACTIV.hr)
FRANCE
A wide aid plan for the wine sector has been announced in France which will provide exemptions from social contributions and employers’ social charges, as well as the opening of a crisis distillation of 2 million hectolitres of surplus wine at an average price of 70 eur/hl (the equivalent of €140 million). However, this has fallen short of demands given that last week the French wine industry asked for €500 million in aid. (EURACTIV.fr)
ROMANIA
Romania will ask the European Commission for direct financial support for milk, pork and poultry meat, as farmers and food producers have amassed large stocks of these products, Agriculture Minister Adrian Oros said Tuesday (12 May). Read more here. (Bogdan Neagu | EURACTIV.ro)
UK
The new agriculture bill is set to return for its final Report stages on Wednesday (14 May) before heading to the House of Lords. The bill will result in the biggest reform and transformation of British agriculture and food production since 1945. (Natasha Foote | EURACTIV.com)
IRELAND
Fast food giant MacDonalds will begin a phased reopening of its stores and is aiming to re-open all drive-throughs in Ireland in early June, reports Agriland. The closure of the stores has come as a huge blow to the Irish beef industry in the past few months. (Natasha Foote | EURACTIV.com)
AUSTRIA
On Tuesday (12 May), the Austrian government met with representatives of the Chamber of Agriculture, food industry, and retailers for a so-called ‘Regional Summit,’ in its continued push to increase the consumption of regional products. Their aim is to confer tax advantages to regional products. Learn more about this here. (Sarah Lawton | EURACTIV.de)
POLAND
Tomas Bogdevic, director at the Employment Agency ‘Gremi Personal,’ told Business Insider Poland in an interview that the agency intends to organise specially chartered flights at its own expense to bring seasonal workers from Ukraine to Poland. Bogdevic also said that there are approximately a thousand workers from Ukraine who have already registered their interest with the agency. (Mateusz Kucharczyk| EURACTIV.pl) |