The COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted and disrupted the EU Flower and Live Plants sector and market since early March 2020. In an unprecedented exercise, the four organisations representing the various segments of the sector in the EU (UNION FLEURS, ENA, AREFLH and COPA-COGECA), have joined forces and mobilised their member organisations across EU Member States to collect structured inputs in order to measure the exact impact of COVID-19 on the sector during the peak of the crisis in March and April 2020. A total of 33 contributions from 17 EU countries were received during the month of May.
This unique Survey Report provides a first measurement of the actual economic impact of COVID-19 on the EU flower & live plants sector at large. Losses reported for the sector across the EU reached an estimated total of 4.12 billion EUR in March and April 2020 in 17 EU countries across the 4 sub-sectors cut flowers, pot plants, bulbs and nursery stock, accounting for close to 10% of the annual total EU market value.
INFOGRAPHIC – Estimated economic losses from COVID-19 -EU flower & live plants sector in March & April 2020 ( CLICK ON IT TO ENLARGE)
This first estimate clearly demonstrates the brutal impact that the pandemic and lockdown measures implemented across the EU have had on the sector during the peak of the Spring season. These losses will never be recovered and will have to be absorbed by the thousands of companies of the flower & live plants sector in the EU. Coupled with the lack of a uniform and coordinated response so far by national governments across the EU, this further reinforces the need for a more meaningful and direct EU financial support to the sector.
INFOGRAPHIC : Financial support measures for the sector across the EU (CLICK ON IT TO ENLARGE)
Union Fleurs is very appreciative of the active involvement of the many Members of the European Parliament who have called upon the European Commission to help the EU flowers and live plants sector in a more effective and impactful way.
“As Members of the European Parliament, we consider it the duty of the European Commission to not abandon this highly interdependent and very performing European sector and to invest in it as soon as possible to offer it a lifeline” says the letter, while recalling that the sector sustains 760.000 jobs across the EU and contributes annually to the EU economy with a total turnover of 48 billion EUR .
The list of signatory MEPs is headed by Annie Schreijer-Pierik (NL, EPP), Juan Ignacio Zoido Alvarez (ES, EPP) and Anne Sander (FR, EPP) and includes many members of the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament, notably its Chair Norbert Lins (DE, EPP) but also a large number of prominent MEPs from across the political spectrum (S&D, ECR, RENEW Europe and ID political groups) and with a large European geographical coverage.
This exceptional mobilisation and call for support by such a large and representative group of MEPs reflect how much the dramatic situation of the flower & live plants sector does appeal to many people and in the first place to the elected representatives of citizens across the EU. The letter aptly recalls how flowers & live plants positively contribute to the quality of life of EU citizens and have an enormous potential in being part of the solution for the overall EU Green Deal ambitions by greening cities and offsetting the effects of climate change.
