On Monday, September 26, in Brussels (Belgium), Kaspars Gerhards, Minister of Agriculture of Latvia, Kęstutis Navickas Minister of Agriculture of Lithuania, and Urmas Kruuse, Minister of Rural Affairs of Agriculture of Estonia met with the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski. Ministers at the highest EU level raised the issue concerning the condition of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which requires farmers from 2023 to devote significant agricultural areas to the cultivation of permanent grasslands rather than to an active farming, such as cereals.
"The condition of the Common Agricultural Policy on permanent grasslands is disproportionate and unacceptable in existing geopolitical circumstances, since it will force farmers in the Baltic States to limit production. We call on the European Commission to respect the objections of Baltic farmers and to find the necessary solutions to adapt the conditions to the real situation of the Member States in order to promote a level playing field,” emphasizes Gerhards.
Ministers of the Baltic States introduced the Commissioner and all the Ministers of Agriculture of EU Member States the solutions to respect the objections of Baltic farmers and to adapt the conditions according to the real situation of the Member States. It is also necessary to take into account the current geopolitical conditions, where food needs to be produced in greater quantities and at an affordable price, which is a priority for each country.
A meeting with the Commissioner took place during the Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries of the European Union.
At the Council meeting, EU Ministers of Agriculture discussed the impact of the Russian war in Ukraine on agricultural production and logistics in Ukraine, as well as the impact of the situation on the EU and global market of agricultural products. In Latvia, the most severe situation is currently in livestock farming, particularly in pig production, poultry and dairy farming, where exists high dependency on animal feed, as well as energy resources and fertilizers. Other sub-sectors of agriculture also face significant increases in prices of energy resources and fertilizers.
EU Ministers of Agriculture, with the participation of the Ukrainian Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi, also discussed the functioning of the EU-Ukraine solidarity Lanes, and also possible improvements to stabilize the food market and food security worldwide.