European farmers are to be reimbursed €686 million following a decision by the European Commission to return money that was deducted from their direct payments during the 2021 budget year.
This is reported by ProAgro Group with reference to Agriland.
During 2021, €879.8 million was deducted from direct payments under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to finance the agricultural crisis reserve.
The money was also deducted to ensure that the overall ceiling of the European agricultural guarantee fund (EAGF) was not overrun, the Commission said.
However, the crisis reserve of €487.6 million was not used in 2021 and, together with some “additional appropriations” available for reimbursement, a “large share of the amounts deducted from direct payments this year will be reimbursed” according to the Commission.
The Commission says that income support benefits nearly 6.3 million farms throughout the EU, often representing an important share of agricultural income.
On average, over the last 10 years, income support represented nearly half of farmers’ income.
