The European Commission announced on the 22nd April 2020 the extension of a package with exceptional support measures to assist the agricultural and agri-food sectors most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The exceptional measures include private storage aid for the dairy and meat sector, the temporary authorisation to self-organise market measures by operators in hard-hit sectors, and flexibility in the implementation of market support programmes. On top of these market measures, the European Commission proposed to allow the Member States to use Rural Development Funds to compensate farmers and small agri-food businesses with amounts of up to €5,000 to €50,000, respectively.

The help enlisted to these two primary and secondary sectors of production includes three categories: 

Private storage aid: this support will be channelled towards private storage aid for dairy such as skimmed milk powder, butter, and cheese; and meat including beef, sheep, and goat meat products. 
Temporary derogation from EU competition rules: these derogations allow operators in the milk, flowers and potatoes sub-sectors to self-organise and implement market measures at their level to stabilise their sector and in the respect of the functioning of the internal market for a maximum period of six months. 
Flexibility for market support programmes: this category will be permitted flexibility in the implementation of market support programmes for wine, fruits and vegetables, table olives and olive oil, apiculture, and the European Union school scheme. 

To learn more about the European Union Market measures and rules to regulate and support the marketing of agricultural products, please visit: https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/news/support-package-agriculture-and-agri-food-sectors