McConalogue welcomes European Commission response to Ukraine Crisis
Published on: 08 April 2022
Minister reiterates Ireland’s commitment to providing assistance to people of Ukraine
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue T.D. today voiced his support for the European Commission’s agri-food related response to the impacts arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking ahead of his attendance at today’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg, which will be addressed by Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture, Mykola Solskyi, Minister McConalogue welcomed the comprehensive nature of the Commission’s response.
He said: “I welcome the approach the European Commission has adopted in dealing with these tremendously difficult circumstances. The immediate package of measures that were announced recently - including exceptional aid, private storage aid for pigmeat, flexibility in the implementation of greening provisions, increased advances of direct payments and a new Temporary State Aid framework - will assist Member States in stabilising agricultural markets and supporting our farm families and their businesses.
“Taking the longer-term view, the Commission’s communication on the need to safeguard food security and reinforce the resilience of food systems strikes the right balance between the need to guarantee food security from both a European and global perspective, and the need to ensure the long-term resilience and sustainability of food systems.”
The Minister also took the opportunity to highlight Ireland’s ongoing concerns in relation to the cost and availability of energy, feed and fertiliser, as well as the need for close monitoring of the evolving situation and transparent sharing of information.
Returning to the appalling direct consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Minister McConalogue again condemned Russia’s actions and expressed Ireland’s solidarity with the people of Ukraine. He said: “Ireland continues to work closely with our European friends and partners to implement appropriate responses that will ensure the maintenance of food security for the Ukrainian people, for European citizens and in the wider global context. We have strongly supported the call to provide food aid and humanitarian assistance, and we will continue to play our part in this effort. Indeed, Minister Solskyi is expected to refer to the specific practical supports required by the Ukrainian agri-food sector in his address to the Council today. The farmers of Ireland stand firmly behind their counterparts in Ukraine at this difficult time.”
The Council of Ministers’ meeting also discussed issues ranging from the Commission’s “Fit for 55” package, to avian influenza and geographic indications.
