Luxembourg's Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development, Romain Schneider; Credit: MSS

On Friday 17 April 2020, the 27 EU Ministers of Agriculture submitted a joint declaration to the European Commission in order to question it as to the response to be given to the Covid-19 crisis within the framework of the common agricultural policy.

The declaration highlights the vital role of farmers and the food chain in ensuring Europe’s food supply and food safety. As the medium and long term impacts of this crisis could be potentially serious and lasting for European farmers, the food industry and the rural economy, a strong common agricultural policy will be absolutely necessary in the future. In this context, the ministers also called on the Member States to work together in a spirit of solidarity.

Furthermore, the Ministers of Agriculture consider that there remains an urgent need to activate appropriate and responsible measures within the framework of the common agricultural policy and in particular of the common organization of the markets in order to support the markets.

Finally, the ministers stressed the important role that farmers will continue to play in order to respond to the Covid-19 crisis by ensuring food security in these difficult times as well as the important role on the environmental point and in management of rural areas.

Romain Schneider, Luxembourg's Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development, participated in the special meeting organised by the OECD and held by videoconference yesterday, and joined the declaration.

During this videoconference, the repercussions of the Covid-19 crisis on the food chain and the political measures taken and envisaged by OECD member countries were discussed. The organisation for economic cooperation and development (OECD) has been tasked with examining the impact of Covid-19 on the food chain in order to identify its vulnerable points and analyse the effects of the crisis on international trade.

Finally, Minister Schneider confirmed that a detailed analysis of the Luxembourg agricultural sector and that of agro-food processing is underway in order to be able to quickly provide the appropriate responses to offset the effects of the crisis.