Drought crisis: Belgium asks permission to ignore EU agricultural rules

Belgium has asked the European Commission for permission to disregard certain rules set by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The request is due to the severe drought this spring, informed the Belgian TV broadcaster RTBF.

The CAP sets out a series of measures for European agricultural markets. The Belgian government has asked to be excused from paying bonuses towards the improvement of environmental performance on farms.

The Belgian ministers of Agriculture David Clarinval (MR), Jo Brouns (CD&V), and Willy Borsus (MR), in a joint press release, have stated that Belgium is now at an acute risk of suffering historic droughts in the coming days, citing the Royal Meteorological Institute.

“This episode of drought would be very similar to that experienced in 1976 in terms of rainfall deficit. This is the reason why Belgium has put this item on the agenda of the Council of European Ministers of Agriculture,” the Federal Agriculture minister states.

According to the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, there are possibilities for Belgium to opt out of certain measures set out by the CAP. 

In recent months, Belgium has been experiencing high levels of water stress. A 2019 report by the World Resources Institute concluded that Belgium was the 23rd most-likely country to experience drinking water shortages.

Groundwaters across the country have been slow to recover and are chronically deprived. This has proven to be particularly disastrous for Belgium’s farmers.

Since its inception, the CAP has been controversial. The policy is seen to be extremely wasteful, ignoring basic principles of economic supply and demand in European agricultural markets. Green reforms to the CAP, to the tune of €387 billion over seven years, were extremely unpopular and faced stiff resistance in the European Parliament.

(VIV)

© BELGA PHOTO (NICOLAS MAETERLINCK) A dried out field in the Genappe area in Belgium