The President of UPEMI is of the opinion that this case, although incomprehensible and outrageous, is more complicated and may encourage others to file lawsuits against farmers who not only breed farm animals, but also cultivate plants.
– We are another industry organization for which the court's ruling is completely incomprehensible. It is equally incomprehensible that city dwellers moving to the countryside are completely unaware that rural areas are a place of work for farmers, not recreational or leisure areas. Many statements also referred to the legal solutions adopted in France in this regard. However, even there the road was not easy and required two changes to the law to protect rural areas to which city dwellers are moving – comments Różański.
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This is how the French solved the problem
In a press commentary, UPEMI recalls that the beginning of French legal solutions in the field of the protection of rural areas was the high-profile case of the rooster Maurice from 2019. Residents of the city, vacationing in the countryside, sued the owner of the rooster for… crowing in the morning hours. This case ended positively for Maurice and his owner, because the French court ruled that the rooster could not be stopped from crowing, and, moreover, rural areas have their own specificity related to
with agricultural activity, and consequently the noise of agricultural machinery, or smells associated with agricultural production. The French government decided to react and introduce regulations limiting the possibility of suing farmers for conducting agricultural activity. However, these regulations were so imprecise that they left a legal loophole and thus the possibility of suing farmers for "excessive disruption of neighbourly relations" on the basis of civil law. The result was over 18,000 lawsuits filed with courts and 500 farmers who had to face negative judgments and, as in the case of Szymon Kluka, the need to pay compensation. It was only the second change in the law and the introduction of the concept of protection of the cultural heritage of rural areas, and thus linking the smells and sounds characteristic of rural areas to this concept. The French Ministry of Culture and Agriculture was involved in the work on the act.
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Why does the verdict against a farmer from near Łódź threaten all Polish farms?
We should follow the French lead
– In Poland, the causes of the problem lie much deeper – for many years we have been calling for legal solutions to regulate the issuing of building permits in rural areas. Currently, this is done chaotically. Everyone suffers from this, especially farmers who have to run their business. Legal regulation of building permits and using the French experience would solve this situation. Let me remind you that France has prohibited suing farms that started their business before someone moved in nearby. Such action is absurd. Maybe farmers should move to cities and sue public transport or a power plant that stinks and makes noise. It is exactly the same logic. I wonder what city dwellers who suddenly fell in love with the countryside will eat when the farms around them disappear. In a moment, a combine harvester that sometimes has to work at night or manure in the field will get in the way – comments Wiesław Różański.
As the president of UPEMI emphasized, it is high time to regulate the regulations and listen to the demands of industry organizations. If someone wants to live in the countryside, they must do so with all the benefits of the inventory. The current situation is the result of the lack of development plans that take into account the specific needs of rural areas.
Różański assured that he will monitor the steps taken by the Ministry of Agriculture in terms of legal changes using the French model, so that the countryside can remain a village and not a bedroom community for city dwellers.
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The verdict of a farmer from near Łódź shows how threatened farmers are today