EU Approves €73 Million to Compensate Italian Farmers Hit by Avian Flu and ASF

European Union member states have backed a European Commission proposal to provide €73 million from the agricultural reserve to compensate Italian farmers affected by avian influenza and African swine fever control measures.

The package allocates €61 million to poultry and egg producers in areas affected by avian influenza outbreaks between September 2022 and March 2025. A further €12.5 million is earmarked for pigmeat producers in areas affected by African swine fever between November 1, 2024 and April 30, 2025.

The support is intended to offset losses linked to measures used to control and prevent the spread of the two animal diseases. The Commission said payments financed through the EU agricultural reserve must reach eligible farmers by the end of May 2027.

The decision matters beyond Italy because animal disease outbreaks can disrupt production, movement of livestock and poultry, processing flows and farm cash flow long after the initial outbreak. Compensation through the agricultural reserve is one of the mechanisms the EU can use when exceptional events create serious market or production disruption.

The Commission announced the measure on September 25 while Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen was in Sorrento for meetings with Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida and representatives of the European poultry sector.

For Italian livestock producers, the package separates support according to the disease and production sector rather than treating the outbreaks as a single event. Poultry and egg farms account for the large majority of the allocation, reflecting the scale and duration of the avian influenza period covered by the measure.