Italian farmers TERRIFIED of Brexit with 800,000 farms at risk due to BREXIT BLACKHOLE

Roberto Moncalvo, president of Italian farming union Coldiretti, told the Italian National Assembly today the UK’s exit from the EU in March 2019 would “weaken” Italy’s farming industry and export trade.

Coldiretti is the leading Italian union of farmers at national and European level. It has offices in every region and province in Italy, with 724 offices and 5000 regional sections in operation.

But the President of the union warned Italian agriculture “can’t pay the price of Brexit”.

They fear an estimated cut of €2.7billion (£2.3billion) to the budget of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), something which could heavily impact 800,000 Italian farms.

Mr Moncalvo said Brexit without a trade agreement would risk the country’s ability to face key challenges for the country and for the EU itself, from climate change to immigration to security.

He told the National Assembly: “The proposal of the EU Commission on the first multi-annual budget after the exit of Great Britain weakens agriculture, the only truly integrated sector of the Union, and that means undermining the foundations of the EU itself at a particularly critical moment for his future”.

“A choice, however, rightly rejected by the European Parliament as well as by the same citizens of the Union who for 90 percent support the agricultural policy at the community level for the decisive role it has for the environment, the territory and health according to the public consultation promoted by the European Commission itself”.

“We need a more equitable distribution of resources overcoming the imbalances that have characterised the past.”

Mr Moncalvo concluded his objective could be possible “with external and internal convergence to make direct payments consistent with parameters such as production costs, labour and added value” and by avoiding cuts.

Meanwhile, the Italian media has also warned Britain, a key territory for Italian food exports, would have to “kiss goodbye” to a large percentage of its favourite foods including olive oil, pasta and more.

Popular foods such as peppers, rice, herbs and spices would also be affected if the UK failed to secure free trade agreements with Europe.

Italian agricultural journal InNaturale warned that Britons may have to say goodbye to Italian produce if the UK cannot maintain free trade agreements with the EU.

In an opinion piece, the magazine stated that in the case of a no-deal exit the tables of the British “will be decidedly poorer”.

It also suggested Britons should start “buying non-perishable foods” imported from the European mainland to avoid “major shortcomings” begin.

And it said the risk could be likely if the UK seeks an intense agricultural trade flow with the United States to plug the blackhole – but also stated that importing US goods would be “unhealthier” than products produced on continent.

However, the trade journal said flour, oats, sugar, salt and vinegar would not be affected by the collapse of free trade, as they are also produced in the UK.

Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.