site.btaAgriculture Minister Calls for Stable, Independent Common Agricultural Policy with Separate Special Budget

Attending the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on Monday, Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture and Food  Georgi Tahov called for a stable and independent Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with a separate special budget that is based on two pillars with increased mutual coordination. At the meeting, the European Commission presented its communication “Vision for Agriculture and Food: Shaping together an attractive farming and agri-food sector for future generations," the Bulgarian Agriculture Ministry reported.

Tahov also said that when reviewing the future development of the EU's policies, it is important to preserve the successful instruments of CAP, such as direct payments and coupled support with adequate funding. The goal is to reflect the increased needs of agriculture in response to the rise in economic and ecological challenges.

Tahov noted that it is important to put a clearer and more explicit emphasis on the need to achieve full external convergence of direct payments. "This is an extremely important issue for Bulgaria with a view to creating a level-playing field for farmers in the EU," the Agriculture Minister said. He argued that farmers should be assured that the transition to sustainable production models will be supported by stable financial instruments and policies that will stimulate investment and innovation without creating additional administrative burdens.

During the meeting, the EU agriculture ministers also discussed the state of the market, in particular following the invasion of Ukraine. The Bulgarian Minister pointed out that against this background, farms continue to struggle with the extremely challenging economic situation. "We believe that they will also be subjected to additional financial pressures following the proposal to introduce increased duties on fertiliser imports from Russia and Belarus. We are concerned that this will set the stage for a significant increase in fertiliser prices," he stressed.

Minister Tahov noted that the significant quantities of Ukrainian honey and chicken eggs entering the European market at very low prices put pressure on the prices of Bulgarian produce and negatively impact its sales on traditional European markets. "Despite the automatic protective measures introduced at EU level, imports of eggs and honey from Ukraine into Bulgaria remain at very high levels," Tahov added. He pointed out that due to a decrease in shipments to EU countries, the January-October 2024 period saw an year-on-year drop in total honey exports from Bulgaria by 6.6% and of fresh eggs, by 25.1%. 

On the EU's rural development policy, Minister Tahov said that the checks into the level of administrative burden and disparities in rural development should be strengthened. "It is important to overcome fragmentation in the rural development policy and define clearer objectives, especially given the risks of an ageing population and the fact that only around 10% of farmers in the EU are young farmers. Rural areas need more services, better education, support for lifelong learning and events to foster their social and economic development," Tahov insisted.