Polish MEP Arkadiusz Mularczyk (ECR) has submitted a parliamentary question to the European Commission urging the creation of a permanent EU support mechanism for fruit farmers who suffer repeated losses from extreme weather, following catastrophic frosts in April 2026 that devastated Polish orchards. The question, filed on 11 May 2026, warns that family farms, jobs, and the competitiveness of Polish fruit-growing are at risk, and that the current ad-hoc aid model is insufficient.
Mularczyk describes the April frosts as the worst since 2007, with damage affecting virtually all of Poland and wiping out entire crops on many farms. He notes that while the Commission activated support measures after 2025 losses, those arrangements proved inadequate given the scale of the disaster. The MEP asks three concrete questions: whether the Commission will establish a permanent European support mechanism for farms regularly hit by frost, drought, and other extreme weather; whether it plans to launch instruments to finance resilience investments such as frost-protection systems, irrigation, and water retention; and whether it has analysed the impact of EU climate and environmental regulations on the profitability and investment capacity of family-run fruit farms, particularly in Central Europe.
The question signals a push for a systemic shift from crisis-response to permanent risk management in EU agriculture policy. By linking the losses to broader EU regulatory frameworks, Mularczyk raises a potential cleavage between environmental regulation and agricultural competitiveness. The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks; its answer will indicate whether it is open to structural reform or prefers to maintain the current case-by-case aid model. Stakeholders most affected include Polish fruit farmers, EU agricultural policymakers, national authorities managing CAP payments, and the broader EU fruit-growing sector facing similar climate risks.
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