We urge the European Commission to remove or increase the individual limit to EUR 560,000 per enterprise in primary agricultural production under the Temporary Framework for Crisis and Transitional State Aid.
This was stated by the Acting Minister of Agriculture and Food, Dr. Georgi Tahov, at the meeting of the EU Council on Agriculture and Fisheries, quoted by BTA, which took place in Luxembourg, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food announced.
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He pointed out that the request is a joint one of Bulgaria and Romania, supported by Poland. Minister Takhov explained that due to the limits of support, a significant number of farm animals, areas with permanent and vegetable crops, as well as greenhouse production are excluded. In this way, they do not have the opportunity to receive funds to cover the increase in the costs of producing agricultural products. Within the framework of the Council, the point was supported by four more countries, the Ministry indicates.
Again, at the suggestion of our country, the request to extend by 12 months the payment period for the projects from the PRDP 2014-2020 was discussed,,,Farmers cannot complete their projects on time due to difficulties in the supply chains”, pointed out Georgi Takhov and added that in recent years the sector in Europe has been beset by a number of unfavorable events that have led to great uncertainty. The proposal is supported by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Greece, Lithuania and nine other countries. The delegation of Croatia informed the Council about significant damage to agricultural areas due to adverse weather conditions. Minister Takhov added that the situation in Bulgaria is similar, with enormous amounts of damage reported every year. "All possibilities and tools should be considered to mitigate the harmful effects of such events on the agricultural sector," he added. According to him, the conditions for providing support from the EU Solidarity Fund should be reviewed.
The topic of sustainable fishing in the EU was also discussed during the Council. In his speech, Minister Takhov welcomed the EC's efforts to achieve the goals in the Black Sea fisheries. He pointed out that our country considers the lack of an adequate assessment of the ongoing negative impact that the war in Ukraine has on the fisheries of Bulgaria and Romania in the Black Sea. “The conflict generates a continuous risk to the safety of navigation in this water basin, as well as narrowed fishing grounds, which, combined with the small-scale nature of the Bulgarian fishing fleet, amplifies the negative impacts and limits its opportunities for better economic performance,” noted Dr. Georgi Takhov. He also stated that Bulgaria will insist that the fishing opportunities for 2025 in the Black Sea reflect the decisions that will be adopted by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), the ministry also informed.
In May, Minister Takhov informed the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechovski, about the state of agriculture in Bulgaria, stressing that the problems caused by the covid crisis, Russia's war against Ukraine, as well as the subsequent economic crisis, are were severely affected by agricultural producers in our country and in the EU. This became known at a briefing in the Council of Ministers after a meeting of the European Commissioner, the Minister of Agriculture and the Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev.
Tahov said that their proposals to the European Commission are to reduce the administrative burden on farmers in order to predictably receive the assistance to them. "Secondly, we propose to extend by one year the deadline for the implementation of the projects under the Rural Development Program (RDP) 2014-2020, with the payment itself taking place and the end of the implementation of the projects ending in 2026 .", explained the Minister of Agriculture.
Then he also expressed the opinion that it should be considered to increase the thresholds for "Ukrainian aid", because in some countries in Europe they are calculated per hectare of area or head of animal, and so large farmers already in 2022 are have reached the ceiling and from then on cannot take advantage of the option of direct payments.