During a debate on the future of agriculture in the EU at a meeting of the Council of the EU, Minister of Agriculture and Food Kiril Vatev said that support to farmers must be fair so that there is no inequality between them. "We have all witnessed how many member states currently have farmers' protests, and this fact raises extremely serious questions about the current Common Agricultural Policy, and poses very serious tasks for the future of Europe's agricultural policy," said Minister Vatev.
He highlighted the importance of ensuring security in business, durability in legislative requirements, simplicity, systematicity and logic of requirements. A balance must also be found between the EU's growing environmental and climate ambitions and ensuring economic sustainability along the agricultural food chain.
The Agriculture Minister commented that the main goal of the strategic dialogue on the topics set should be to achieve a balance between the economic well-being of farmers, the protection of the environment and public justice.
Within the Council, Bulgaria expressed support for a document by Poland on the need to include effective solutions to prevent excessive imports of agricultural products in the in the new Regulation on Autonomous Trade Measures for Ukraine. Vatev said that the upcoming proposal for a regulation should include provisions for accelerated procedures under protective clauses and the possibility of applying regional protective measures in the event of shocks in the markets of several or one member state.
According to a report presented on Tuesday by the European Commission, from 2014 to 2023 the European Union has provided EUR 2.5 billion in emergency support for European farmers.
The figures show that farmers in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary received a total of EUR 156.3 million last year from the total due to the impact of agricultural imports from Ukraine.
In total, the EC introduced 63 emergency measures to support European farmers affected by poor harvests, low prices, increased production costs or disrupted supply chains. The report was presented on the eve of the commission's expected decision to offer, if necessary, additional support for farmers in EU countries bordering Ukraine, the Health Ministry said.
/DT/
news.modal.text
