The government – instead of fearing the Ukrainian oligarchs – should simply implement the restrictions demanded by farmers, at least for some time to stabilize the situation, Anna Gembicka, a Law and Justice lawmaker, said in an interview with wPolityce.pl. As she recalled, the PiS government imposed an embargo “despite threats from the European Commission.” “The December 13 Coalition continues to boast that it is in negotiations with Ukraine and that they will soon reach an agreement on any quotas or restrictions,” she said. According to Gembicka, “the EC must first make it clear that it is giving up on the Green Deal.”
At a press conference, Siekierski, together with the deputy heads of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, referred to the issue of farmers’ protests taking place across the country and spoke to their representatives. He announced that he “will demand a reduction of the ‘Green Deal’ at the meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels.”
Siekierski judged that “the solutions proposed in the ‘Green Deal’ are not accepted among farmers, farmers believe that they even violate their professional dignity.”
I will strongly argue for a reduction in the obligations under the Green Deal. Many topics are already under discussion, and I will also call for the abolition of the set aside order. We expect greater openness from the European Commission and a new approach to matters surrounding transport from Ukraine. There must be guarantees for the integrity of the markets
– said the Minister of Agriculture.
READ MORE: Siekierski: During the cabinet meeting in Brussels I will demand that the Green Deal be limited. These solutions are not accepted by farmers
Will the EC give up on the Green Deal?
Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Anna Gembicka commented on the issue in an interview with the wPolityce.pl portal.
I think that the European Commission should first of all make it clear that it is abandoning the Green Deal. This is a project that affects many areas: mainly agriculture, but also industry and transport. It entails significant restrictions and increased burdens for both farmers and entrepreneurs. These solutions must be definitively abandoned
– emphasized the Law and Justice MP.
I think this is a good time to demand this from European politicians, with the European Parliament elections approaching. This should be a particular demand that will emerge in these elections
– she added.
During the conference of the Ministry of Agriculture, an accusation was also made against the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, who is said to be responsible for the current problems in the agricultural sector in Europe.
As Anna Gembicka explained, other commissioners are largely responsible for the content of the project.
First of all, we have a separate Commissioner for the Green Deal at EU level, so this person is primarily responsible for these projects. Secondly, when it comes to the solutions that farmers are protesting against, namely limiting crop protection products, these are the proposals of the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides of the European People’s Party.
– she pointed.
When it comes to proposals regarding fallow or flooded agricultural areas, these are the proposals of the Commissioner for the Environment, currently the Commissioner for the European Green Deal. Previously, Frans Timmermans – a good friend of Donald Tusk’s team – was responsible for this problem. Commissioner Maroš Šefčovi is currently responsible for the Green Deal
– noted the PiS MP.
For example, as far as Commissioner Wojciechowski is concerned, it should be pointed out that the original set-aside proposal would cover as much as 10%. area, and the commissioner succeeded in achieving a reduction to 4 percent. Of course it’s still a lot
– emphasized the former Minister of Agriculture in an interview with the wPolityce.pl portal.
The Politico website wrote that thanks to Poland’s persistence and the actions of then Minister (Henryk) Kowalczyk, it was possible to postpone the issues surrounding the restriction of plant protection products. This was possible thanks to convincing other EU countries to adopt this solution. Many positions and interests conflict within the European Commission, and we should not forget that
– she added.
Deputy Minister Michał Kołodziejczak blamed the European Commission for the situation regarding Ukrainian agricultural products. Apparently he prefers to blame others rather than admit the lack of specific initiative on the part of Donald Tusk’s team. The Law and Justice government somehow managed to impose an embargo, even though the European Union no longer wanted to continue these restrictions.
The EC is responsible for allowing the uncontrolled imports of agricultural products from Ukraine and the European Commission should correct this situation and consider returning to quotas that will limit the quantity of these products on the European market.
– said Kołodziejczak.
As he noted, “There is still an embargo in Poland on the import of wheat, rapeseed, corn, sunflowers and derivatives of these products.”
On Sunday, former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called for an embargo.
An embargo on agricultural products from Ukraine is a must! If the European Commission has not taken action for months, the government would have to implement it unilaterally. We showed you how to do that
– wrote Morawiecki.
Related to the problem, former minister Gembicka also commented on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.
Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, also from the European People’s Party, is primarily responsible for opening the border with Ukraine. Somehow it happens that all the ideas that are harmful to agriculture are either the work of European socialists or the work of the European People’s Party.
– she noted.
I think that Mr Kołodziejczak, who said before the elections that he would go to Brussels and stay there until he resolved all the issues important to the farmers, should first learn how the European Commission works before speaking out on such issues . issues.
– she said.
The government – instead of fearing the Ukrainian oligarchs – should simply implement the restrictions that the farmers demand, at least for a while to stabilize the situation.
– said the PiS MP.
We succeeded, despite threats from the European Commission. The December 13 coalition continues to boast that it is in negotiations with Ukraine and will soon reach an agreement on any quotas or restrictions.
– she noted.
We hear about certain conversations all the time, but we don’t hear about the results. We also have conflicting information from the ministry, because Deputy Minister Kołodziejczak says that the Ukrainian side does not want to talk, that these talks are very difficult, and Deputy Minister Czerniak in turn says that the talks are going very well and that an agreement will be reached soon
– Gembicka noted.
She also warned: “If the ministry’s management itself does not know what this looks like, this does not bode well for Polish farmers.”
For several days now, numerous farmers’ protests have been taking place across Poland, including blocking roads, highways, highways and border crossings with Ukraine. Farmers are opposing the influx of Ukrainian goods, as well as European policies regarding the so-called Green deal.
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Source: wPolityce