Changes to the Green Deal
Janusz Wojciechowski emphasized that proposals for legislative changes in EU legislative acts are proposals European Commission and will still require the consent of the European Parliament and the Council. However, he added that these concepts had received “preliminary approval”.
“I have information from the European Parliament that this direction of changes is expected, so I assume that there will be no resistance in the European Parliament and the Council,” Wojciechowski said at a meeting with journalists on Friday.
Fallow land
Firstly, the requirement for mandatory fallowing of 4% will be abolished. land. – This fallowing has not yet entered into force, but we are already moving forward – the proposed changes to this project will include replacing mandatory fallowing with voluntary fallowing. Member States may propose a fallow land scheme to their farmers, but if a given farmer does not join it, he will not have this obligation, he explained.
Crop rotation
The second change concerns the departure from the obligation to rotate crops, and here too, Member States and farmers will have the opportunity to make their own decisions.
The so-called period winter cover
The third change concerns the so-called winter cover. The change means that Member States can flexibly choose the period when the regulation applies, taking into account regional and local differences. – The EC will not impose a rigid period – the commissioner pointed out.
Farm inspection
The next amendment to EU regulations will cover the issue of farm inspections. Member States will be able to exempt small farms of up to 10 hectares from control. In Poland, this is almost ¾ of farms. According to the latest data from the agricultural census, in Poland as many as 950,000 of 1.3 million are small farms. – This is a big relief for these farms – said Wojciechowski.
Financial penalties
Another change concerns the inclusion of the principle of not imposing financial penalties on farmers who in 2024 and 2025 do not manage to adapt to the new requirements of EU agricultural policy.
Strategic plans
The last, sixth correction concerns increasing the flexibility of strategic plans. Currently, Member States can amend their national plans – under the Common Agricultural Policy – once a year. The new regulations will include two windows per year.
Changes in April?
The commissioner emphasized that these are EC proposals that must now go through the legislative procedure.
– I predict that it will be passed quickly this term European Parliament. This means that it should be quickly adopted by the EP and the Council by April. I don't anticipate any difficulties, he noted.
When asked how he thought Polish farmers would receive this information, Wojciechowski said that “these are things that meet farmers' expectations.” He added that in his opinion, the key issue for Polish agricultural producers is abandoning the obligation to fallow.
“The Common Agricultural Policy is becoming less restrictive, which does not mean that it is less environmentally friendly,” concluded the commissioner.
