Bankruptcy risk for pig farms

Although pig meat consumption is extremely high in Romania, the number of pig farms in the country is continuously decreasing. For example, in 2014 the number of pig farms decreased by 26% compared to the number of pig farms existing in 2006. According to the data published by the National Institute of Statistics, the number of pigs on 1 December 2014 showed a 2.7% decline. Although the necessary number of pigs is about 10 million, Romania’s current livestock is of over 3 million pigs. Romanian farmers abandon pig farming because animal welfare subsidies have been cut. Because of the reduction of the number of farms, about two thirds of the pig meat on the Romanian market is imported.

What are the measures that the Commission has available in order to encourage the establishment of new pig farms and the development of existing ones?