EU announces concessions for farmers
Kyiv • UNN
Next week, the European Commission will present new legislative proposals to reduce the burden on farmers and make existing Green Deal requirements more flexible.
Next week, the European Commission will present new legislative proposals to meet the demands of protesting farmers. This was stated by the European Commissioner for Agriculture from Poland Janusz Wojciechowski, UNN reports with reference to RMF FM.
Details
"There will be a proposal to significantly reduce the burden on farmers. This will be beneficial for farmers," said the European Commissioner.
As noted, Wojciechowski will present these decisions tomorrow in the Sejm.
He said that this year the European Commission will not demand penalties from farmers who do not comply with environmental or climate standards.
In addition, between 2025 and 2027, i.e. by the end of the budget period, changes will be made to ease the existing requirements of the Green Deal. These will be legislative decisions.
"It will be a package of decisions that should relieve farmers of all concerns, not so much about the Green Deal as about its elements included in the Common Agricultural Policy," Wojciechowski said.
Among the concessions will be a complete abandonment of the mandatory fallowing of 4 percent of the land. Also, farmers will be able to continue to leave their land fallow, and will be additionally rewarded for this.
As noted, solutions will also be found to mitigate the severity of crop rotation and the obligation to use winter cover, i.e. to keep winter crops or stubble. The new proposal will be more flexible and, for example, each country will be able to choose the period for crop rotation.
Also, it is reported that farms up to 10 hectares will be exempt from inspections for compliance with environmental requirements. Thus, farmers will not be fined for non-compliance. And in Poland, farms of up to 10 hectares account for three quarters of all farms, the report says.
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According to the European Commissioner, he will also propose to expand the possibility of providing state aid to farmers. This is the aid authorized by the European Commission in connection with the war in Ukraine. To date, farmers have received 4 billion euros of such support.
Recall
A number of EU countries have been gripped by farmers' protests. They are protesting against environmental regulations, subsidy cuts, and bureaucracy.
