Robert Zile, Member of the European Parliament
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The work in the European Parliament (EP) on agricultural regulations has turned into a four-day, several-thousand-year battle, after which neither side seems to be really satisfied, says MEP Roberts Zīle.
“The chaos that ruled the plenary is primarily rooted in disagreements in EP committees. The Committee on Agriculture and the Environment was asked to draw up the report, but these committees were unable to find a compromise and agree on the future of agriculture, which would probably not be the most unusual thing we had to hear. What was more surprising was the fact that the Agriculture Committee itself could not find a consensus on what the agricultural regulation should look like in the new period, therefore, a decision was made to explain the relationship in plenary, ”Zīle says about the regulation process.
The long-planned weekly plenary vote on the three reports on the EU’s common agricultural policy, which will have the most direct impact on the future of Latvian farmers, ended on Friday, October 23, when the current regulation expires at the end of this year.
“Overall, the vote in the European Parliament on all three reports on agricultural regulations, which is hampered by technical difficulties, was chaotic, fighting a number of controversial sides – a nature conservation lobby with producer advocates, left-wing ideas with right-wing nationalist views. Unfortunately, most of the amendments in the reports were not adopted on the basis of logic and the real situation on farms, but on the basis of last-minute political compromises between different interests and individual ambitions. “
Also read: EU member states agree to reform the bloc’s agricultural policy
The never-ending story of direct payments
Zīle says that “a rather polite offer was made by the European Council this summer”. “For Latvia, this means a slight reduction in rural development funding, but in terms of direct payments, Latvian farmers in 2027 could stand on the same line with the region’s fiercest competitors – Poland, and receive about 82% of the EU average amount of direct payments.”
The deputy continues: “However, even with 82%, Latvia will continue to remain in the last place, with the lowest amount of direct payments in the European Union. For this reason, together with our Baltic colleagues from other political groups, we pushed forward a proposal for the full equalization of direct payments by 2027, ending more than 15 years of injustice. However, the pressure from those countries receiving direct payments well above the EU average proved to be insurmountable. As the major political groups opposed the proposal, the amendment failed. “
Common agricultural policy money for European farmers
“At the beginning of the 2000s, the Latvian agricultural sector experienced a very aggressive entry of foreign investors into the agricultural and forestry land market. Most of these investors came from other EU member states, which greatly limited Latvia’s opportunities to expand various protectionist measures, keeping agricultural and forestry land in the hands of local farms, »says Zīle.
“However, in the last decade, there is an increasing trend in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States – the entry of third-country investors into the land market.”
He said: “In order to prevent a wave of aggression by potential third-country investors in the agricultural land market, we have put forward proposals from my political group that EU agricultural funding should not be diverted to natural and legal persons from outside the EU. Although such an offer is a seemingly logical way to maintain a stable family farm model in Europe, including defending Latvia’s national interests, it did not gain the support of a majority in the European Parliament, but unfortunately several Latvian MEPs from the Social Democrats and Liberals voted against. “
Requirements, environmental and climate ambition
“During this term, with the relatively strong shift of the EP’s forces to the left, there was particularly strong pressure to implement more ambitious environmental and climate goals in the conditions for receiving payments – basic requirements, eco-schemes, agri-environmental measures, and elsewhere,” said Zile.
The MEP also notes that the EU has set great ambitions for a green course. “Agriculture is no exception, and Latvian farmers will also have to move towards more and more climate- and environment-friendly practices. However, a number of objective indicators, including the proportion of forest areas, the use of plant protection products and low nutrient leakage, clearly indicate that Baltic farmers are not a scapegoat in Europe, but an example to follow, ”said the deputy.
“That is why, from the political group I represent, we emphasized that in order to achieve maximum efficiency, the ambitious nature protection ambition that must be strongly supported must be realized primarily in countries with highly industrialized agriculture, which is not the Baltic States,” the deputy explained.
“We worked to ensure that the new requirements were proportionate and would not disproportionately burden the daily lives of Latvian farmers. In some cases, the 5% non-productive area currently met by farmers under the “greening” payment could be reduced to 3%. “
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