Rural development and food minster Kostas Tsiaras proposed the creation of permanent EU agricultural crisis fund.
Rural development and food minster Kostas Tsiaras underlined we need to manage the risks of the climate crisis. While participating in the work of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the European Union in Luxembourg and at the MED-9 meeting, noting that the resilience of the primary sector must be reinforced.
Tsiaras proposed the creation of permanent EU agricultural crisis fund. Τhe establishment of a Mediterranean Risk Observatory, as well as the adoption of actuarial recalculation tools and public-private reinsurance through the CAP.
He also called for strengthening intergovernmental cooperation across different EU policies (agricultural, environmental, research and civil protection), with the aim of mounting a comprehensive response to natural disasters and the pressures on agricultural production.
The Greek minister stressed that supporting the primary sector and Europe's fishermen was not just a matter of economy, but a prerequisite for ensuring adequate food supplies and Europe's strategic autonomy.
Furthermore, he placed particular emphasis on the need to strengthen the position of producers in the agri-food chain, welcoming the amendment of the Regulation on the Common Market Organisation and the arrangements for cross-border cooperation."These are not technical interventions, but political choices with a social and economic impact," he said, calling for stronger protection of producers against unfair trading conditions.
Finally, Tsiaras welcomed the Omnibus proposal for the simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), highlighting the need for less bureaucracy and more flexible support mechanisms. He advocated the abolition of the annual performance clearance, the revision of the method of calculating income loss and the support of organic producers, while emphasising that ad hoc crisis management solutions must give way to stable long-term planning tools.