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Özdemir: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Just like for SUR, the EU is unprepared for deforestation

Özdemir: Dobrymi chęciami piekło jest wybrukowane. Tak jak do SUR, tak i do deforestacji UE jest nieprzygotowana

On July 15, 2024, the first meeting of EU agriculture ministers was held under the chairmanship of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council.

Everyone is watching what goals the Hungarians will pursue, while the German Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, stressed that they should not forget that there are actions and goals to be achieved that concern all Community countries.

Agricultural priorities for the Polish presidency of the EU Council

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Agricultural priorities for the Polish presidency of the EU Council

– First of all, I would like to wish the Hungarian Presidency and my colleagues all the best for the upcoming Council Presidency. We, as Germany, will also make a constructive contribution to the Presidency of the EU Council. Especially when it comes to the future, but I also want to take this opportunity to recall that the Presidency of the Council always carries great responsibility, namely the responsibility that we embrace and represent the whole of the European Union, and not just our own agenda, because everywhere we have a slightly different approach to agriculture. In Brussels, we are here as Europeans and we must represent all the interests of the European Union. I assume that the Hungarian Presidency of the Council is aware of this and that the future Presidency will also be aware of it, Özdemir noted.

EU crisis aid bypassing Germany?

At the beginning of July this year. We informed that the European Commission will allocate EUR 77 million to support in emergency situations for farmers in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Portugal, which is struggling with the crisis in the wine industry.

Aid for fruit growers may be doubled. It is possible that the payment will be made in the fall

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Aid for fruit growers may be doubled. It is possible that the payment will be made in the fall

These problems are also common to German farmers, who feel left out in the distribution of aid, and extreme phenomena also affected their crops and plantations.

– Another topic that interests us here is crisis assistance in the event of extreme weather conditions. The Commission has reserved aid from the crisis reserve for our neighbors Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland when it comes to frost damage. I'm very happy about this, but I don't understand it, and neither do our farmers on the other side of the border, in the south of Germany or in the east of the country. Where we also deal with huge damage caused by frost in fruit and viticulture. Should assistance at the border of these countries be ended in such a situation? On the other side of the border, you can also complain about damage. Unfortunately, I have not yet received an answer on this matter. I hope that the Commission will take appropriate action here and provide us with crisis aid, we need it very urgently, otherwise trust will be destroyed and, as I said, no one in Germany understands why these losses have already gone unnoticed on the other side of the border, said Özdemir.

Deforestation – Has the Commission not done its homework?

The German Minister of Agriculture also raises the issue of deforestation, which will oblige companies to thoroughly document and check whether goods imported from outside the EU do not come from regions where areas have been deforested for cultivation.

Not only the Green Deal in agriculture. New deforestation rules will make it more difficult to import soy into the EU

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Not only the Green Deal in agriculture. New deforestation rules will make it more difficult to import soy into the EU If nothing changes, soybean meal prices will increase from 2025. All because of deforestation

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If nothing changes, soybean meal prices will increase from 2025. All because of deforestation

– Supply chains are a recurring topic and we will be discussing it here, which I also want to discuss in my bilateral talks. The Commission is once again being called upon to implement clear legislation, but it has not yet done its homework and the conditions for practical implementation have still not been presented. There is still no comparative analysis for countries, and I want to say this very clearly: our economy and our businesses are facing a completely unjustified effort that could ruin their functioning.

Let us remind you that the regulations limiting deforestation are to be applied in practice at the beginning of 2025. For importers of e.g. soybeans or soybean meal, this means the need to document the origin of goods imported to the EU, based on geolocation data. Time is passing and still little is known. For example, how data is to be collected, processed and verified. However, for traders, this means a huge amount of collected data that they will have to collect, document and store. The industry takes this seriously because the proposed penalties for failure to comply with the documentation obligation are severe.

– I would like to ask the Commission once again to decide very quickly to defer the law so that we can ensure that this regulation works in the future. To make the regulations transparent. Once again, we are dealing with a classic example of a good goal pursued in a bad way. We have already seen this in the case of SUR (sustainable use of agricultural products). Appropriate target for the reduction of plant protection products. If implemented incorrectly, it ends up harming the cause and empowering the wrong people, Özdemir noted.

The new rules cover: cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy and wood, as well as products that contain, were fed with or were made from these goods (such as leather, chocolate and furniture).

Companies will collect relevant information, for example geolocation coordinates. Relevant EU authorities will have access to them and will carry out inspections using satellite monitoring and DNA analysis tools. This way, they will check where the products come from.

Penalties for non-compliance will be proportionate and dissuasive. The maximum fine will be at least 4% of the total annual turnover in the Union of the entity or commercial undertaking that does not comply with the rules.

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