What Malta can expect from next Monday’s Agri Fish Council

On Monday 24 March 2025 the Council for Agriculture and Fisheries will meet in Brussels to tackle different topics relevant for Malta.  

The European Commission Communication for a Vision for Agriculture and Food published on 19 February highlighted the importance of 1) supporting farmers’ incomes, 2) a sustainable livestock sector, 3) a territorial approach to food production, 4) an action on climate change mitigation and adaptation and 5) building agriculture sector resilience to economic and environmental shocks. These are all issues of extreme urgency and relevance for Malta.

Another development that will be interesting for Malta is that Romania will propose an amendment to include the purchase of breeding animals as an eligible EAFRD expenditure. EAFRD is the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

Several Member States including Malta will also present a background note on Future support to EU fisheries. This note will call for 1) focused support on fleet segments that do not have the necessary investment capacities, 2) support for the adaptation to climate and ecosystem changes and to help young fishers start their activities, 3) lower administrative burdens, 4) support beyond the current programming period, 5) consideration of all opportunities to increase the accessibility of EMFAF funding, 6) the Commission to consider measures to support the modernization of European fleet segments that lack investment capacity in the years to come. A core component of these suggestions is improved financial planning and investment opportunities.  

The High-level conference “Common Agricultural Policy for food security” which took place last 5 March in Warsaw will be detailed in our next article. Stay tuned! 

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