Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are calling on the European Commission to equalize agricultural subsidies across the EU. The seven countries that later joined the community have for years received lower direct payments from the European budget for the common agricultural policy than countries in Western Europe. The reason for this is lower production costs in the past, which, however, according to the seven countries, are no longer present today, while high standards and requirements are the same for all EU farmers.
The seven countries have calculated that even in 2027, their farmers will still only receive around 80% of the EU average level of direct payments. According to them, there is no reason to treat farmers differently in the EU internal market. In this regard, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia emphasize the need for full external convergence of direct payments. They call on the EC to take this into account in the next budget of the common agricultural policy.