Approximately 12 million tonnes of crops were lost in Europe this summer.

Omissions

• The 12 million tonne figure is found only in sources relaying von der Leyen's own parliamentary statement; no independent primary source (Eurostat, JRC MARS, DG AGRI) publishing the same total was located, so the figure rests on a single, not fully independent, line of reporting.
• Other reporting puts the 2026 European wildfire season at roughly half a million hectares (about 500,000 ha) burnt, below the 660,000 hectares cited in the claim.
• A separate estimate attributes about 9 million tonnes of crop losses to the June 2026 heatwave alone, a narrower scope than the full-summer total.
• A source could not be confirmed that the crop-loss figure refers to the EU-27 as opposed to a wider European scope.

Sources

• SecondaryWikifarmer — 'EU puts summer crop losses at 12 million tonnes'Von der Leyen told Parliament the summer cost Europe 12 million tonnes of crops and 660,000 hectares burnt, with a water initiative and insurance alliance next.
• SecondaryWikifarmer — 'EU summer crop yields cut by heat and drought'The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has cut its EU yield forecasts for every summer crop, with soybeans falling 14% below the five-year average, green maize 12% below and grain maize 7% below.
• SecondaryUnion Press — 'Europe's 2026 wildfire season burns half a million hectares'Europe's 2026 wildfire season burns half a million hectares and incurs over €3 billion in restoration costs. More than 500,000 ha have turned to ash across five EU nations.
• TertiaryStudioGlobal — 'Europe's 2026 Summer Heatwave: Crop Losses, Food Prices'The June 2026 heatwave alone is estimated to have cost European grain farmers roughly €2 billion (£1.7 billion) in lost revenue, destroying an estimated 9 million tonnes of crops — wheat, barley, maize, and oats — across the EU and UK.