Minister Florin Barbu, dissatisfied with the attitude of the European commissioner for agriculture

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Florin Barbu, is decided to request today, within the Agrifish Council, the resignation of the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, according to the announcement made yesterday by the Romanian official.

According to Agerpres, Florin Barbu stated during a discussion in Târgu Mureş with the farmers' representatives: "Romania put through the Council of Ministers the exemptions from GAEC 7 and 8 of the European Union Regulation. The support I had from the 15 states, including Germany and France, regarding the derogations from GAEC 7 and 8 and the failure to respect the vote that was given in the Council of Ministers, of 70%, will make me tomorrow, even in the Council of Ministers, I undertake this, in my capacity as a minister, to publicly demand the resignation of the commissioner for not respecting a vote given by 15 states. I'm telling you, I'm going with this mandate that in the Council of Ministers, tomorrow, if they don't solve the issue of the derogation from GAEC 7 and 8. Because one thing was not understood, although I tried to explain it to the commissioner and to everyone, that we are not asking for anything: we are in a time of war, we are affected, the five states, by the conflict that was caused by Russia against Ukraine".

The Minister of Agriculture states that when there is an approved framework for an extension, it means that there are difficulties and that is why, today, if the derogations from GAEC 7 and 8 are not resolved, he will request the resignation of Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.

Minister Barbu said: "It is for the first time in the Council of Ministers that a state through its representative, that is, through the Minister of Agriculture, whom you have in front of you, will ask for the resignation of the European Commissioner for Agriculture in the Council of Ministers. From here I think we should enter into a dialogue".

Yesterday's request to the Minister of Agriculture intervenes in the context where among the demands of the farmers who have been protesting for two weeks are the derogation from the European norms on crop rotation (GAEC 7) and from the provision that provides for leaving 4% of the farm's surface as uncultivated land (GAEC 8).

According to the documents available on the EU Council website, at the meeting of December 10-11, 2023, an information regarding the derogations from GAEC 7 and GAEC 8 was presented by the Romanian side, supported by the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Polish and Slovak, which was followed by a request to the European Commission, to which several member states agreed.

According to the information provided by the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture,

the implementation of the two conditions would, in the current context, lead to the bankruptcy of farmers in our country, but also in other EU member states. The quoted source shows that, due to the increase in the pressure of climate factors on European farmers, as well as the conflict in Ukraine, the European Commission established for last year exemptions from the application of GAEC 7 and GAEC 8 standards, through the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022 /1317.

In the document presented at the meeting of the Agrifish Council on December 10-11, 2023, it is stated: "The new standards of the CAP (ed. - Common Agricultural Policy) will further reduce the production and income of farmers in 2024, and the markets will compensate them by increasing imports of inferior products from third countries. Therefore, European citizens will finance the development of agricultural practices in third countries that are not environmentally friendly, increasing the global impact of agriculture. Thus, the good agricultural standards promoted by the EU risk, if they are applied without taking into account the real market situation, as is the case at this time, to have an adverse impact on the environment. It is obvious that the maintenance of the disruptive factors from the economic, social and environmental perspective also requires the continuation of the necessary derogations to limit the negative effects during the crisis. The solution lies in the flexibility given to Member States in terms of conditionality to achieve the targets set by green architecture, using resources more efficiently, with more measures available that focus on sustainable production instead of taking land out of production. (...) The issue of conditionalities in the context of the implementation of the National Strategic Plans remains a crucial one from the perspective of the application of GAEC7 and GAEC8 standards, if we consider the need to ensure the predictability of farmers in terms of the conditions they must apply in 2024. Thus, the derogation from when applying these two standards for the year 2024 is essential, cause the difficult situation facing European farmers. The decision to derogate from GAEC 7 and GAEC 8 rules should be taken responsibly, taking into account the impact on food security, farmers' incomes, customary agricultural practices and environmental protection, taking into account both immediate needs and long-term consequences on agriculture and the environment".

Among the arguments invoked in the cited document for extending the exemptions regarding the application of GAEC 7 and GAEC 8 in 2024 are:

- Food security: In crisis situations, such as climatic ones accompanied by an immediate border conflict and a prolonged economic crisis, ensuring food security becomes a critical priority. Exemptions from the application of GAEC 7 and GAEC 8 would allow farmers the necessary flexibility to focus on the production of staple foods in immediate market demand, to meet the increase in domestic and foreign demand and to maintain supply stability in the long term short and medium. Derogations could also continue to ensure business-as-usual farming activities, avoiding the adoption of revenue-maximizing practices at the expense of environmental protection.

- Farmers' incomes: the derogation could allow farmers to better adapt to climate risks and market changes, thus protecting their incomes by increasing the production of crops on market demand and reducing losses due to adverse conditions. For many farmers, agricultural land is the main source of income, and restricting its use can lead to reduced income and financial difficulties. This would implicitly ensure the continuation of the agricultural activity of the affected farmers.

Considering the above arguments, MADR representatives, but also their counterparts from five other EU member states, requested in the Agrifish Council of 10-11 December 2023 the European Commission to adopt the legal basis for the application and exemption from GAEC 7 and GAEC 8 for the year 2024. Which did not happen, because the European Commissioner for Agriculture did not ask for this in the College of European Commissioners.

In fact, dissatisfied with the provisions of the Green Deal that impose drastic rules for agricultural and animal husbandry producers, the representatives of farmers from the member states of the European Union announced that today they will protest in Brussels, right during the meeting of the Agrifish Council.