Cyprus Presidency will move forward the issues affecting farmers so that they can continue producing without disruption, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Maria Panayiotou told CNA, following the informal meeting of the 27 EU Agriculture Ministers with Commissioners for Agriculture Christophe Hansen, Trade Maroš Šefčovič and Health and Food Safety Olivér Várhelyi, held on Wednesday evening at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels.

“It was a very important meeting today, a meeting that we co-organised together with the Commission and which demonstrated the importance – it essentially confirmed that immediate action is needed to ensure that the agricultural sector has the tools it needs in order to be able to continue producing and to safeguard Europe’s food security. This was a common position expressed by all Ministers,” the Minister stressed.

She added that, as the Cypriot Presidency, “what we have assured is that we will run all the necessary procedures, regardless of the Council configuration, the Commission or the working group, so that the issues raised during today’s discussion move forward swiftly, in order to achieve positive results as soon as possible.”

Panayiotou underlined the need to secure the tools farmers require in order to keep producing, pointing out that “our farmers produce every day under difficult conditions. We have a duty to listen to them and we have a duty to ensure that they will continue to produce with the tools they need to do so.”

CNA/EK/EPH/2026

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY