Measures to support farmers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic

The document expresses support for measures ensuring the free movement of goods and labour and streamlined trade procedures to support farmers during COVID-19. However, it strongly opposes temporary exemptions from greening requirements and crop diversification, arguing there is no evidence that the pandemic affects farmers' ability to comply with environmental rules or threatens food security. The authors urge the Commission to maintain the enforcement of EU environmental legislation and carefully assess measures such as modified state aid rules, flexibility between CAP pillars, and the classification of COVID-19 as a blanket force majeure on a case-by-case basis.

• The authors support specific measures to address pandemic-related disruptions in the EU agricultural sector, including maintaining the integrity of the Single Market for the movement of goods and labour, streamlining import and export procedures, and extending deadlines or using advance payments within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
• The signatories strongly oppose temporary exemptions from greening requirements, such as those regarding crop diversification or ecological focus areas (EFAs), stating that the pandemic does not justify increasing production levels for food security or hinder compliance with environmental rules.
• The document calls for a strict, evidence-based, case-by-case assessment before adopting far-reaching measures that could harm the environment, specifically mentioning modified state aid for agriculture and fisheries, flexibility between CAP pillars (Pillar II to Pillar I), the reallocation of Rural Development funds, and the reduction of on-the-spot controls.
• The authors argue against declaring COVID-19 as a blanket force majeure for agricultural regulations, asserting that such a designation without proper scrutiny would contradict Regulation (EU) 1306/2013 and Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) case-law.

APA

ClientEarth (2020). Measures to support farmers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.clientearth.org/media/4e3jaixw/2020-04-03-covid-19-measures-in-agriculture-joint-ngo-letter-to-agriculture-commissioner-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Measures to support farmers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/media/4e3jaixw/2020-04-03-covid-19-measures-in-agriculture-joint-ngo-letter-to-agriculture-commissioner-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Measures to support farmers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic |date=1 April 2020 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/4e3jaixw/2020-04-03-covid-19-measures-in-agriculture-joint-ngo-letter-to-agriculture-commissioner-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2020measures, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Measures to support farmers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/4e3jaixw/2020-04-03-covid-19-measures-in-agriculture-joint-ngo-letter-to-agriculture-commissioner-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }