In the Wednesday program ‘In the center of events’ of Television in Poland, agricultural market analyst Karol Olszanowski explained in detail what exactly farmers are protesting against and what is misunderstood in these nationwide demonstrations..
As a guest on Jakub Maciejewski’s program said:
farmers do not agree with the assumptions of the so-called Green deal. This applies not only to farmers, but also to all countries, because the Green Deal assumes, among other things, that reducing greenhouse gas emissions, for example the thermal modernization of buildings, and then decommissioning combustion cars by 2035, all changes in the state have to deal with these built-in pseudo-ETS taxes, i.e. taxes on CO2 emissions, the so-called CPM, i.e. cross-border tax.
The Green Deal means more expensive things
EU projects will impact not only farmers, but all residents of the European Union, which will be felt during the exchange of goods.
When we buy goods from abroad, and according to European officials these are goods that require high carbon dioxide emissions, we are saddled with higher costs, which means we have to pass the costs on to the recipients.
– Olszanowski explained.
The interlocutors also addressed the issue of exports of Ukrainian agricultural products across the Polish border. Olszanowski explained that the owners of these goods are not ordinary farmers, but huge corporations, often owned by oligarchs that pay taxes in countries such as Luxembourg, Cyprus and the Netherlands.
The Ukrainian agroholding company Kernel officially has 350,000 hectares as a company, which is larger than the country of Luxembourg, where the company is formally registered. This is the size of a Polish province.
The European Union, Poland and farmers
The analyst also spoke about specific provisions observed by the Polish side and violated by some exporters from Ukraine:
In June 2022, the European Union, Brussels, suspended the association agreement with Ukraine. This gave Ukraine unrestricted access to the entire European market, which was previously regulated by the Association Agreement and systematically expanded every year. As a result of public dissatisfaction, a unilateral embargo was imposed on the Polish side by Minister Buda on April 15, 2023. Later, Minister Telus issued an extension from 15/09/23. This regulation is still in force and Poland is not alone, as Hungary and Slovakia have introduced similar restrictions.
In accordance with the law and Polish interests
Olszanowski clarified:
Please note that the transit of agricultural products through our country is allowed and the Ukrainian side cannot accuse us of not allowing the transportation of goods, because we do.
The guest of Television in Poland also explained that Ukraine, which does not defend itself, is the target of the opposition of Polish farmers:
Farmers are largely protesting not against Ukraine as a state, but against unfair trade, which can be regulated at the national level between Warsaw and Kiev or between Brussels and Kiev.
VIEW THE ENTIRE PROGRAM: AT THE EVENT CENTER:
Source: wPolityce