France will support Spain’s request for EU emergency funds to help farmers hit by extreme drought, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said Thursday.
Paris will show “solidarity in the European institutions so that Spain can access elements of budgetary response to the crisis it is experiencing,” Fesneau told a joint press conference after meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Luis Planas, in Paris.
More than a quarter of Europe is currently in drought, with many countries bracing for a repeat — or worse — of last year’s bone-dry summer. Spain is particularly hard hit, with farmers’ association COAG forecasting that cereal crops will fail entirely in four regions this year.
Planas on Monday sent a letter to Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski requesting aid for farm workers in Spain’s agricultural heartlands, including from the crisis reserve of the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and unused rural development funds.
Across Europe, 2022 was the second hottest year on record. Last summer’s sizzling temperatures left fields parched and rivers used to irrigate them depleted. An unusually dry and warm winter means there has been little rain to replenish them, creating a critical situation for farmers as the Continent heads toward another searing summer.
Fesneau argued that drought is a problem that “lies ahead,” for the whole of Europe, but is currently particularly affecting Spain and Portugal. He added that France is also “vigilant,” especially regarding the southern part of the country.
Some 27 percent of Spanish territory is currently classified as in a drought “emergency” or “alert”, while reservoirs are at 50 percent of their capacity. The country is also forecast to face an early heat wave next week. Spain received €64.5 million in CAP crisis reserve funds last year to cope with increased fertilizer costs linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
