A coalition of 15 EU countries is set to demand an increase of “de minimis” state aid for the agricultural sector, according to a note circulated among member states that will be discussed in a ministerial meeting on Monday (29 April).

The country representatives are advocating for increasing the “de minimis” ceiling to €50,000 per farm over three years ahead of next week’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH), diplomatic sources told Euractiv.

The de minimis regulation allows member states to allocate small amounts of public subsidies to a company without formally notifying or obtaining prior approval from the Commission, as these quantities are considered non-market distorting.

Leading the push is Germany, with the support of the French, Austrian, Croatian, Romanian, Hungarian, Cypriot, Slovenian, Latvian, Luxembourgish, Maltese, Slovak, Estonian, Polish, and Bulgarian delegations.

“We will have a debate”, a EU diplomat confirmed to Euractiv, “I expect that there will be different voices around the table”, because “not all member states have the same means to support their agricultural holdings”.

At present, the maximum amount of small-scale subsidies that can be granted to an individual company in the agriculture and fisheries sector is capped at €20,000 and €30,000 respectively, over a period of three years.

EU leaders called for an extension of the current temporary state aid framework, which has allowed EU countries to dish out billions to the farming sector in recent years, and for an increase of the de minimis aid for agriculture, during a summit on 17-18 April.

The Commission said on 11 April that it is consulting EU countries on extending the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF) to allow governments to continue easing farmers’ financial strain “in view of the persisting market disturbances”.

EU countries provide billions of euros in aid to agri-food sector amid farmer protests

European Union member states have spent billions of euros supporting agricultural and food industries over the past two years, following a temporary relaxation of the bloc’s state aid rules to help businesses cope with the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Under the TCTF, member states can grant up to €280,000 and €335,000 to individual companies operating in the agriculture and fisheries sectors until 30 June 2024.

At the Council of 26 February, Italy presented a note calling on the Commission to adopt a temporary framework to deal with the crisis in the agricultural sector, ensure a European moratorium on farmers’ debts in the various member states, and increase the “de-minimis” aid in the agricultural sector to €50,000.

A recent report by former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta on the EU’s single market cautioned that the relaxation of state aid rules in response to the recent crisis has produced distortions of competition among EU countries due to their different spending capacities.

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