– Recently, MP Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski's statements regarding his further political activities, assessment of Law and Justice, and in particular President Jarosław Kaczyński, have become more intense. As part of the criticism of PiS, Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski accused the lack of a program for the Polish countryside, even anti-agricultural policy – writes KrzysztofJurgiel in the introduction.
He further explains: – Work on developing a program for the Polish countryside began in 2003 and lasted until 2014. In 2014, at the 4th PiS Congress, the agricultural program "Strong agriculture, healthy food, modern countryside" was adopted. The Congress decided that as part of the PiS general program, one of the state's strategic tasks should be: "agriculture, food production and maintaining the vitality of rural areas." The main goal of the program was considered to be: "economically, socially and environmentally stable agriculture and developed rural areas as an attractive place to live, work and recreation." In 2015, after winning the elections, the PiS government started implementing the program.
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In the years 2015-2018, I had the opportunity to achieve the goals included in the PiS Agricultural Program "Strong agriculture, healthy food, modern countryside" through:
a) adopting a groundbreaking and long-awaited by farmers act on suspending land sales and effectively preventing speculation in land trade in Poland,
b) introduction of a package of laws or amendments to existing laws that improve the position of farmers in the food chain:
- development and implementation of the Act on Agricultural Retail Trade – enabling farmers to conduct retail sales,
- Act on counteracting unfair competition,
- Act on the development of farmers' cooperatives,
- Act on "Product Polish" labeling systems,
- functioning of promotion funds.
c) preparation of the Act on the "State Food Safety Inspection", which was submitted to the Sejm,
d) changes to legal acts under the CAP (applies to the Rural Development Program Rural Development Program for 2014-2020, simplifications, updates, modifications, negotiations with Brussels),
e) adoption of the document Common Agricultural Policy after 2020 – Polish priorities, submitted by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Effective cooperation and arrangements at the EU forum,
f) development of 21 strategic projects for agriculture and rural areas,
g) development of the 2030 Rural Pact,
h) establishment of the National Agriculture Support Center,
i) implementation of e-Application Plus,
j) developing a number of development programs.
During the term of office of MP Robert Telus, an update of the Sustainable Development of Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries Strategy 2030 (SZRWRiR – October 2023) was adopted by the PiS government.
The strategy includes strategic activities and projects that are the competence of not only the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, but also other ministries and voivodeship governments, which play a key role in the process of programming, management and coordination of activities at the regional level. In the diagnostic part, including the assessment of external conditions and at the stage of formulating challenges, the EC's conclusions were also taken into account.
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The updated SZRWRiR includes actions consistent with the objectives of the long-term vision for rural areas in the EU 2040 and the resulting "Pact for EU Rural Areas" and the "Action Plan to stimulate integrated development of rural areas."
Currently, the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy has started work on updating the Responsible Development Strategy in force since 2017, i.e. the Medium-Term National Development Strategy (ŚSRK), which, in accordance with the Act of December 6, 2006 on the principles of development policy, is a document specifying the goals and directions of development. for a period of 10-15 years and detailed activities for a period of 4 years.
The main premises for preparing the Medium-Term National Development Strategy are primarily:
- new conditions resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine,
- trends and challenges for Poland in the 2050 perspective and the main directions of EU policies identified as part of work on the National Development Concept (KRK 2050),
- legal conditions for preparing the document.
The renewed Medium-Term Strategy will respond primarily to the following challenges:
- greater risk of armed conflict,
- growing demographic and migration pressure,
- climate change and related socio-economic challenges,
- the need to achieve ambitious EU goals (zero emissions).
Based on the analyzes carried out in the course of work on the next strategic document, the National Development Concept (KRK 2050), as well as the conclusions for development policy resulting from this document, the thematic scope of the Medium-Term National Development Strategy was proposed, focusing on 4 areas:
- economy of the future,
- just transition,
- social solidarity,
- security of the state and citizens.
Throughout the Medium-Term National Development Strategy, cross-sectional issues common to all priority areas will be multi-disciplinary transformation, national security and economic resilience.
The Polish rural development policy since 2004 has been bringing good results. The vision of the Polish countryside enshrined in the PiS agricultural program is still valid. As I presented earlier, Poland implements the agricultural policy established by the PiS government and described in relevant documents. The changes in rural areas proposed by this and subsequent governments are intended to ultimately lead to:
- improving the material conditions for the development of rural areas,
- restoring rural inhabitants to functioning in an open, competitive, information and civil society,
- inclusion of rural areas in the European economy,
• building a competitive sector of sustainable agricultural production, - development of rural areas as a place to live, spend free time, live and recreate.
Currently, the task of the right wing should be cooperation with the government on documents of the EU and the Polish Government regarding development policy, in particular: the perspective of the Common Financial Framework 2028-2034, the National Development Concept 2050, updating the Medium-Term National Development Strategy, updating Sector Strategies, including the strategy regarding agriculture and development programs focused on the future and facing challenges.
The narrative, especially presented by MP and former Minister of Agriculture Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, that there was nothing before, there were no programs, there were no specific solutions and their implementation is untrue.
Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski served as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2018-2020. He tolerated irregularities in subordinate institutions. During this time, he did not implement, abandoned or delayed many actions included in the PiS Government Agricultural Program. In particular, it failed to implement:
- some of the strategic projects included in the Responsible Development Strategy (SOR), referred to as the Medium-Term National Development Strategy until 2030,
- Pact for Rural Areas (adopted for implementation by the Social and Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers – 2018),
- adoption of the Act on the State Food Safety Inspection prepared in 2017,
- previously prepared development programs,
- launching a chain of stores in cooperation with enterprises,
- work on the final negotiations on the financing of the CAP after 2020 – as a result, we lost some financial resources.
– Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski is desperately looking for a way to re-enter politics. His achievements as Minister of Agriculture are modest and are mainly associated with the still unresolved Bielmlek and Eskimos scandals. Such a person should not lecture anyone about village affairs. I believe that he was a brake on the PiS agricultural program for the Polish countryside, he suspended or abandoned important and necessary agricultural reforms that were initiated in 2015-2018 – with these words Krzysztof Jurgiel ends his opinion.
Do you agree with this opinion?
