Summary of newspapers of the previous day – 8. 6. 2011

European ministers of agriculture agreed on how they will strengthen food safety and how to compensate actual loses of vegetable growers

Extraordinarily on Tuesday, representatives of ministries of agriculture of EU member states met in Luxembourg to negotiate about food safety and impacts spread of bacteria E. coli upon the market. Besides a discussion about how to improve the current mechanisms in the EU and in particular member states to be able to effectively face up crisis caused by an occurrence of hazardous foods, and quickly and correctly react on development, they negotiate about an extraordinary aid for vegetable producers. The European Commission introduced a concrete compensatory measure which on base of the ministers´ discussion will put forward definitely next week.

Fog above II. pillar of Common Agricultural Policy after 2013

Political elite of member states prepares a field for a battle over money of tax payers. A negotiation about an allowance of agricultural subsidies is not only a discussion about fair conditions, direct payments and “green” policy. A part is also money in less favourable areas, environmental measures, and also various types of projects. General principles were introduced by the European Commission in the seat of COPA. II. pillar will be fundamentally changed.

Farmers: Cucumber affair will not help us anyway

According to a statistics, agricultural production decreases year after year. While in 2007, 172 tonnes of vegetable were harvested in Liberec region, according to data of the Czech Statistic Office the production decreased to 58 tonnes the year before the last, so, roughly to a third. An alleged affair with German cucumbers forced Czech consumers buying vegetable be careful, at least for some time than medial waves will pass. However, it will not help much to Czech farmers.

Poland will not support us in fight against setting of payment ceilings

Priorities of Polish presidency will be: a preparation and management of legislative parcel concerning the future CAP, a quality of European products, and availability of information for consumers, an achievement of agreement to a milk parcel. The Polish Minister of Agriculture Mr. Marek Sawicki stated it. To a question of the CAP definition he answered that the real CAP and its reform has to transit from a historical payment model to more equal payment distribution, further, that it is necessary to preserve a budget for the CAP at the same level and to count in also the inflation.