The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry has sent a request to the European Commission to activate the exceptional measures provided for in Article 221 of Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013 (crisis reserve) and to increase the percentage of advances of direct payments and area-based measures of rural development, in order to address the damage that adverse weather events have caused to the Italian agricultural sector in the first half of 2024.

The Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Francesco Lollobrigida, will reiterate this request at the Agrifish Council scheduled for July 15 in Brussels.

MASAF’s request was supported by a document analyzing the meteoclimatic situation prepared in collaboration with Ismea, which shows that Italy has experienced diametrically opposed conditions: the South has been affected, and is still affected, by a very severe drought, while the North has experienced catastrophic flooding and overflow.