The European Commission has imposed excessive, irrational and expensive Green Deal requirements, which were intended to serve the environment and combat climate change, but in fact led to the bankruptcy of many agricultural companies – said the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Poland, Czesław. Siekierski, at a press conference in Brussels on Monday.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to defend the climate, we just have to do it in a different way. (…) The EC must verify its plans
– added Siekierski, who met journalists after the meeting of EU agriculture ministers.
To meet the expectations of Polish farmers, I applied for an exemption from set aside. Abandoning set-aside as a special exception in 2024. Then start the process of changing these basic laws so that set-aside can be replaced by some form of eco-regulation, i.e. it is voluntary, so that set-aside can be done and farmers paid for it.
– he proposed.
I have also asked for simplifications when it comes to crop rotation and administrative requirements. To not punish mistakes made deliberately to defraud and overburden the EU budget for some payments. So that farmers can provide statements, and not photos, that they have carried out a certain activity correctly
– Czesław Siekierski listed.
Farmers do not need instructions from Brussels
As he emphasized, farmers know how to carry out crop rotation, how to take care of animal welfare, and Brussels should not impose rules on them that they cannot implement.
According to the head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture, another reason why farmers are currently protesting across the EU is the opening to imports from outside the EU. Siekierski noted that the influx of agricultural products from Ukraine has not only made production unprofitable in Poland, but farmers in other EU countries are also starting to feel this.
Certain rules should be introduced in the field of trade between Ukraine and the European Union, especially with Poland. Poles, Poles, villagers, farmers – we have all helped Ukraine, Ukrainians and we want to continue to do so. But it is necessary to distinguish between humanitarian aid and military aid and matters related to economic conditions, and to trade exchanges, which should take place on the basis of rational, normal principles, in accordance with the principles of the market and economy .
– Siekierski postulated and emphasized that farmers should be supported financially because they have incurred the costs of the Green Deal and opened themselves up to imports from outside the EU, through no fault of their own.
We all know this and the European Union cannot pretend that nothing has happened
– took note of the Polish Minister of Agriculture.
He also drew attention to another pressing problem: the large grain stocks in the European Union.
At the end of June, grain stocks in Europe will be around 28 million tons. Of which 9 million tons in Poland. We produce about 35 to 36 million tons of grain, so we will have 25 percent. grains in stock. This grain must be liquefied somehow, creating free warehouses and free granaries. Question: how? The EU must take action to support the sale of European and partly Ukrainian grain
– said Siekierski. According to the minister, this support could take the form of transport subsidies or the purchase of supplies and their transfer in the form of humanitarian aid to needy regions of the world.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce