The EU has promised that this year there will be no penalties for farmers who do not meet environmental or climate standards.
The European Commission will present next week new legislative proposals to meet the demands of protesting farmers. This is what European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said in an interview with RMF FM in Brussels.
“A major reduction in the burden on farmers will be proposed,” said Wojciechowski.
He said that the EU will promise that this year there will be no penalties for farmers who do not comply with environmental or climate standards. This means that their direct payments will not be reduced.
The European Commissioner announced that before the end of the budget period between 2025 and 2027, changes will be made that will soften the current requirements of the European Green Deal, these are legislative decisions.
“This is a package of decisions that should remove all the concerns of farmers not about the Green Deal, but about its elements that are in the Joint Agrarian Policy,” said Wojciechowski.
He noted that the package will include a complete waiver of the mandatory certification of 4% of the land. The most recent proposal from the European Commission provided only a partial exemption from this obligation.
In addition, farmers can still leave uncultivated land, but this is a voluntary action for which they will also be rewarded.
Solutions can also be found to ease the rigor of crop rotation and the obligation to use winter cover. The new proposal will be more flexible and, for example, each country will be able to choose the period for applying crop rotation.
Farms up to 10 hectares will not be included in inspections for compliance with environmental requirements. Farmers will not be fined for non-compliance.
The European Commissioner also proposes to expand the possibility of providing state aid to farmers. We are talking about 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.
We remind you that today, February 6, Polish farmers staged a protest in Warsaw, and they also continue to block Ukrainian border checkpoints.
The protests reportedly turned into clashes. Some protesters tried to enter the parliament. According to the police, more than a dozen people are currently in custody.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.