Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Florin Barbu announced on Monday during a discussion with farmers in Tirgu Mures that he will demand the resignation of European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski on Tuesday within the Council of Ministers. .

“Romania proposed to the Council of Ministers exemptions from GAEC 7 and 8 of the European Union Regulation. The support I have received from 15 countries, including Germany and France, for the deviations from GAEC 7 and 8 and the failure to comply with the results of the vote given in the Council of Ministers by 70% will force me tomorrow even in the Council of Ministers, both Romania and I “I am determined, as a minister, to publicly demand the commissioner’s resignation because he does not respect the vote submitted by 15 states,” said minister Florin Barbu, Agerpres reports.

GAEC 7 refers to crop rotation and GAEC 8 to the condition of leaving 4% of the farm area uncultivated (para).

“I am telling you, I am going with this mandate that tomorrow in the Council of Ministers if we do not resolve the issue of the retreat of GAEC 7 and 8 because one thing was not clear and I tried to explain to the commissioner and everyone that we are not asking for anything. We are in a period of war, we, the five states, have suffered from the conflict that took place between Russia and Ukraine,” Barbu added.

The Minister of Agriculture argued that if there is an approved framework for expansion, it means that there are difficulties, and therefore on Tuesday morning, if the exceptions to GAEC 7 and 8 are not resolved, he will demand the resignation of Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.

“This is the first time in the Council of Ministers that the state, through its representative, that is, through the Minister of Agriculture, whom you have in front of you, will demand the resignation of the European Commissioner for Agriculture in the Council. Ministers This is where I think we should enter into a dialogue,” Florin told Barbu.

Farmers want the measures they are demanding to be supported in Brussels

On Sunday, the Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation sent an open letter to President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Marcel Čolak and Agriculture Minister Florin Barb asking them to support additional measures at the EU Council meeting on agriculture and fisheries.

The letter states that “I am considering the meeting of the Council of the European Union (Agriculture and Fisheries) on 23 January 2024 (10.00), which, according to the agenda, considers issues related to trade in agricultural products and the proposed withdrawal in 2024. of standards 7 and 8 on Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC), the Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation asks you to take all possible steps to convince the European Commission and the Member States to support both declaratively and formally by voting the implementation of the 2 points presented earlier , provided in the minutes of the MADR meeting dated 15.01.2024, in points 2 and 3 of this meeting, namely:

• Granting an exemption from Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC) Standards 7 and 8 in 2024 under conditions at least similar to 2023;
• Adoption of the EU decision on ensuring the survival of European farmers until the publication of the Commission’s proposal on the renewal of trade measures for agricultural products from Ukraine”

Florin Barbou: Farmers will have no problems, everything agreed upon will be regulated

Florin Barbou on Monday assured the farmers of Mures County that they will not face any difficulties this year and that all the aspects adopted after negotiations with their colleagues can be found in the Official Gazette and some will be settled in the next period. .

“I know the problems Romanian farmers face, I know the claims they have, I had very important discussions both with farmers on the street and with associative forms. I want to reassure the Romanian farmers that the verbal processes that I completed, both with the protesters in the Afumaci area and with the farmers in the associative forms, all the things that are foreseen by these verbal processes, some of them have already been published in the Official Gazette. And this week, other regulations follow, and I believe that the funding that the Ministry of Agriculture has for 2024 and the regulations that we will adopt in the Romanian government, farmers in 2024 will not have difficulties in agriculture in Romania” – said the minister.

The farmers of Mures district presented on Monday to the Minister of Agriculture a list of 13 demands, among which is an immediate ban on the transit and import of grain, oil crops, meal and other agri-food products from Ukraine, including those that appear in the documents as coming from the Republic of Moldova, Hungary or other countries , but originally from Ukraine.

Among the demands, farmers from Mures demanded steps in Brussels to provide subsidies on par with other European Union states, as well as compensation for the losses farmers suffered in 2023 due to uncontrolled imports from Ukraine.

In addition, farmers demanded the renewal of state aid for diesel fuel used in agriculture, the differentiation of state aid for diesel fuel depending on the slope of the land and the difficulty of its exploitation, since in the mountainous areas typical of Transylvania, it is impossible to fit into the ceiling of 78 l/ Ha.

It was also suggested to check the quality of milk at customs points, to decide on payment for official production control (COP) and for animals registered in the Genealogical Register (RG), publication of the Ministry of Agriculture by 30.01. .2024 conditions that must be met to gain access to the welfare of dairy or beef cows.

Farmers also want to speed up the payment of livestock subsidies, respectively for milk/meat of cattle, pigs and poultry, to organize the financing of the 2024 spring campaign and apply to the European Commission to approve a derogation from GAEC 7 and 8.

The farmers asked to be consulted before the development of the new lease law, the obligation to provide evidence of active farming when applying for subsidies to the API, measures to reduce the bear population and preserve the facility until 01.11. .2023 regarding CASS payment exemption.

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