Brussels, 15 March 2024
Prime Minister Tusk and President von der Leyen held an in-depth discussion on a new series of proposals that the Commission will present later today.
Farmers are faced by increasing uncertainties, in particular caused by geopolitical events such as Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine. We must further support farmers in this current context. The main goal of these legislative proposals is to further ease the administrative burden for EU farmers and give farmers and Member States greater flexibility for complying with certain environmental conditionalities, without reducing the overall level of ambition when it comes to the environmental and climate protection objectives of the EU agricultural policy. Through these proposed changes, it will be possible to apply certain standards in a way that is more compatible with the every-day realities that farmers face on the ground.
The new proposals foresee exemptions for small farms, under 10 ha, from controls and penalties related to conditionality requirements. This will have a real and immediate impact on the many small farms in Poland and the European Union.
Another proposal will change the obligation of farmers not to grow crops on part of their land, the so-called GAEC 8. The current obligation will be largely turned into an incentive scheme. It will be applied retroactively, from the beginning of 2024. In practice it would mean that farmers are encouraged to maintain non-productive areas, but without fearing loss of income if they are not in a position to do so.
The Commission’s proposals are a direct response to the requests received from farmers’ organisations in and beyond Poland.
Both leaders also discussed further measures to address the situation on the grain market and the import of grain from Russia.
In this context, the European Commission is evaluating the possibility of introducing restrictions on the import of agricultural products from Russia to the European Union. On this basis the Commission will come forward with a proposal shortly.
Both leaders will remain closely coordinated on how to support agriculture in Poland and Europe.