Belgian Prime Minister proposes insurance to cover fluctuations in agricultural prices

The Belgian Prime Minister proposed this Sunday the creation of insurance with contributions from all participants in the food chain to protect farmers from fluctuations in prices paid to them by middlemen.

“This chain includes the farmer, the food processor and the distributor. Everyone should be able to make a decent profit, but this Sunday the farmers are on the side where the profit is very small,” Alexander de Croo complained in an interview with VTR. TV channel.

The official noted that price fluctuations for vegetables or fruits are so great that they can sometimes reach 100%, and if a large enterprise already has difficulties with this, then a small farmer has even more difficulties.

The idea is that the solidarity mechanism, that is, insurance, “is a cushion” to ensure that fluctuations in market prices do not fall entirely on the shoulders of the farmer, he emphasized.

Alexander de Croo explained that the insurance would include contributions from everyone in the food chain, and that money would then be used to adjust farmers’ incomes if prices fell too much.

On the other hand, the Prime Minister rejected the idea of ​​reducing VAT on fruit and vegetables, noting that in recent years “every time they wanted to play with VAT” to solve the crisis, it did not work.

The agricultural situation in the EU has become more visible following recent protests that mobilized thousands of farmers in several member states, including Portugal, with borders and roads closed.

European farmers have taken to the streets in recent weeks, blocking roads with tractors and straw bales to demand an easing of the CAP and more support for the sector. These actions have already forced governments to take new measures.