Polish farmers rally against Green Deal, Ukrainian food imports

Polish farmers' demands include reinstating trade restrictions with Ukraine to prevent Ukrainian food production from flooding the Polish market. The protesters also oppose the European Green Deal measures that restrict their business.

"We understand these protests, which are not targeted at the Polish government, but at the restrictions imposed by Brussels on farmers," Krajewski told Wednesday's press conference.

He said the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) needs to be reconsidered so that it does not put so much pressure on Polish farmers.

"The protests are at least a year overdue," he argued, adding that the demonstration should take place when regulations related to the European Green Deal were created and when the National Strategic Plan was being prepared for the new, reformed CAP.

"EU policy has gone to a dead end," another Deputy Minister, Michał Kołodziejczak, told the private RMF FM radio on Wednesday morning, adding that the demands of the Polish farmers are right.

According to him, the protests - which have mushroomed across the bloc - are a warning to Brussels.

"If the existing regulations, including the Green Deal and the eco-schemes, are not renegotiated, I suspect that the anger in Europe may be even greater," he said.

Concerns over the Green Deal

Asked by Euractiv for the specific objections by Polish farmers against the Green Deal, the head of the Polish Association of Fruit Growers, Mirosław Maliszewski, cited the exclusion of some plant protection products, which, in Poland, are widely used in the fruit production sector.

"This puts into question the profitability and competitiveness of the fruit production," said Maliszewski, who is also an MP from the Polish People's Party (PSL, EPP) and belongs to the broad ruling coalition.

On the consequences of the fertiliser-related restrictions, he said that fruit orchards are usually established on light soils that require constant fertilisation. Maliszewski insisted that the reduced use of fertilisers would decrease yields, significantly affecting the profitability of production.

Similar concerns were voiced by an apple grower from the central region of Mazovia, as she told Euractiv that the negative consequences of the Green Deal will directly affect the whole country and not just the agriculture sector.

"The reduction of use of plant protection products and fertilisers would result in the rising costs of production and translate into higher food prices."

A consequence will be cheaper, lower-quality imports of agri-food goods from abroad, argued the apple grower, who asked to preserve anonymity.

Moreover, numerous farms will be unable to adjust their production to the new, enhanced norms and will have to give up production, she said.

"The EU sets rigorous food production standards, while the rest of the world cares little," the orchardist complained.

Tusk is less harsh on Brussels

The increased imports of cheap food production from Ukraine, which were made possible by the 'solidarity corridors' introduced in June 2022 by the EU Commission, also had a huge impact on Poland, which was among the most affected countries.

Together with other countries neighbouring Ukraine, the previous conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government that ruled in Poland until last December demanded that the trade restrictions be reinstated. However, when the EU and numerous member states refused to address the issue, Poland and other countries introduced a unilateral ban on some types of Ukrainian agri-food products.

The problem of uncontrolled Ukrainian imports is one of the issues that the new government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which replaced PiS in power, agrees with its predecessors.

The European Commission is expected to propose the renewal of the "Autonomous Trade Measures" (such as the suspension of import duties, quotas and trade defence measures) in support of Ukrainian exports to the European Union.

In an interview with Euractiv on Wednesday, Polish Agriculture Minister Czesław Siekierski said the Commission's proposal will include some Warsaw demands as "farmer protests pushed the EU to take a softer stance".

Asked whether she believed that Tusk's camp would better deliver on the farmer's interest than PiS did, the orchardist answered negatively, pointing to the fact that the nationalist PiS was much harsher with Brussels than Tusk.

Since the PiS government strongly opposed the uncontrolled influx of Ukrainian food in Brussels, it is hard to expect that Tusk's government would be as assertive, she added.

She even went as far as saying that Tusk will be Brussels' agent in Poland.

"He will not stand up to the EU, even at the cost of the Polish farmer's interest. He will give up to the EU's pressure on key portfolios, including the Green Deal."

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)

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