site.btaBulgaria Backs Demand for Raising De Minimis Aid for Farmers

Bulgaria supports an increase de minimis state aid in the agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture sector, Agriculture and Food Minister Georgi Tahov said at an Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg as quoted by his Ministry on Monday.

Speaking on behalf of the delegations of Bulgaria and 13 more Member States, the German delegation called on the European Commission to raise the de minimis aid ceiling to EUR 50,000 per farm over three years (from the current EUR 25,000) and the respective national maximum. Similar measures should apply to the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

The EU's Common Agricultural Policy needs an adequate budget to provide a fair level of support so that there is no inequality of farmers, Tahov said. "It is important to take into account the growing challenges facing agriculture and to ensure a sufficient budget to bring certainty to the sector. It is essential to work towards equalizing the levels of direct payments so that farmers in countries with lower payments feel on an equal footing with other farmers in the EU," he added.

"We need to restore farmers' confidence in the CAP," he said.

At a discussion on trade-related issues in agriculture, Tahov said that ex-ante impact assessments of trade agreements and autonomous trade measures need to include more detailed analysis. The aim is to avoid compromising the viability of sensitive agricultural sectors. He added that the introduction of zero or reduced tariffs, rather than full liberalization, would be an appropriate instrument to limit the negative impact.