The body representing farm organisations and agricultural co-operatives at European level, COPA-COGECA, has stated that it is critical that emergency measures for the agri-food sector are introduced with urgency.

The umbrella agricultural organisation said that it is expecting a complement of measures to be announced by the European Commission on Tuesday, which will aim to stabilise supply chains and ensure food security in Europe.

“On the political and economic front, initial analyses clearly show the importance of the reconstruction challenges that European agriculture will face in the short and medium term,” said COPA-COGECA in a statement.

Repercussions

“This war which affects Europe will have worldwide repercussions for several years to come.

“In this regard, COPA-COGECA are expecting comprehensive, robust, out-of-the-box measures by the European Commission on 8 March. Exceptional situations call for exceptional measures.

"A paradigm shift is needed in the way Brussels thinks about agriculture, starting with the objectives set out in the Farm to Fork,” the body stated.

Security and sustainability

COPA president Christiane Lambert called on policymakers to create a “food shield” in Europe to withstand Russia’s weaponising of food.

“Since the Russian government is using food security as a weapon, we must counter it with a food shield."

Lambert outlined COPA’s position that recent “unproductive” commentary from Brussels pitting agricultural sustainability and food security against each other was not actually the case.

“As with energy, in agriculture we strongly believe that it is possible to strengthen our strategic autonomy while continuing to make progress on sustainability,” she said.

Ukrainian farmer representation

COPA-COGECA also announced that the Ukrainian National Agrarian Forum (NAF) will become a partner of its representative grouping.

COGECA president (the co-operative wing of the organisation) Ramon Armengol said that this development is reflective of the support shown by European farmers and co-ops towards Ukrainians.

“Welcoming our Ukrainian colleagues to COPA and COGECA is the natural extension of this expression of solidarity that is taking place on the ground by farmers and their co-operatives,” he said.

COPA-COGECA added that it would be supplying the details food and supply relief efforts to its website to make it easier for farmers to contribute.