EU clarifies support for farmers hit by exceptional weather

The European Commission on Thursday adopted a directive that clarifies farmers will not necessarily lose their Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments when exceptional weather circumstances prevent them from fulfilling CAP requirements.

“Farmers located in the impacted area will not need to fill in individual requests or provide evidence for the fulfilment of the conditions of force majeure”, it said in a statement, adding that exceptional weather included severe floods and droughts.

The move aims to cut red tape for farmers, addressing one of the issues that sparked Europe-wide protests earlier this year.