Prague – Agricultural organizations from seven countries, including the Czech Republic, have called on the Council of the European Union (EU) to reject the proposal for the next European agricultural policy. According to them, among other things, it will drastically increase food production costs. The Czech News Agency reported today that the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic joined the call, along with organizations from Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Denmark currently holds the presidency of the EU Council.
Overall, the EU budget will increase, but the Commission intends to allocate 22 percent less to agriculture in the next period, according to the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic. “When accounting for inflation, this is actually 45 to 50 percent less. This also leads to fundamental changes in agricultural policy, which include the abolition of the current two-pillar system, under which funds have so far been directed towards investments or are tied to area or the number of livestock,” the organizations stated.
They argue that production will significantly increase in cost, and if the increased costs are reflected in prices, there is a risk that European customers will not be able to afford them and will have to prefer imports from abroad. “These foods from third countries may be cheaper, but they will not be produced in accordance with high production standards, will be of lower quality, and have a higher carbon footprint,” the agricultural organizations warned. They therefore want the EU Council to strive for the withdrawal of the proposals.
The President of the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic Jan Doležal considers it unacceptable that the European Commission decided on changes without agreement with the professional public or conducting an impact study. “Under such conditions, it will no longer be possible to produce quality food in Europe, which will lead to further weakening of our food security,” he noted.
Today in Brussels, the Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný (KDU-ČSL) criticized the proposal for the new multiannual EU budget. According to him, agricultural policy should remain a separate policy, and it is necessary to address the budget amount concerning agriculture if the EU wants to remain competitive with the rest of the world. He stated that not only he but also several other agricultural ministers are critical of the budget.
Výborný identified the new idea of unified financial envelopes for each member state as particularly problematic. That is, instead of a multitude of programs, there should be only a single national fund from which expenditures on agriculture or cohesion policy will be distributed. According to Výborný, Czech agriculture is unique within Europe in terms of structure and size of farms, and therefore the minister would welcome it if individual member states could adjust certain matters according to their needs. (September 22)
