Image: (APA/AFP/SERGEI GAPON)
This involves, among other things, the rules for brownfield sites, as the Brussels authority announced on Friday evening. This refers, for example, to standards that are intended to ensure the good agricultural and ecological condition of areas. In principle, farmers must adhere to these in order to benefit from the EU agricultural subsidies worth billions.
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Until now, farmers have been obliged to leave part of their arable land fallow or to use it unproductively. The requirement is intended to protect the environment. The Commission proposes to allow more flexibility in this obligation. In the future, farmers should decide for themselves whether they want to continue using part of their arable land unproductively. The Member States should in turn reward farmers who leave land fallow despite relaxing the regulations, as the Commission announced. In return, they would then receive additional financial support through an eco-program that all member states would have to offer.
Crop rotation regulations remain in place
According to the Commission’s proposal, a regulation on crop rotation should fundamentally remain in place. However, the member states would have the opportunity to give their farmers a choice. Accordingly, they could either change the crop rotation or diversify their crops. In contrast to monocultures, crop rotations – i.e. the alternation of different plants in the field – are intended to protect the soil or require fewer pesticides.
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The regulation of the so-called minimum ground cover should also be relaxed, as the commission also announced. This currently states that at least 80 percent of the arable land must be covered within a specified period of time. According to the Commission’s proposal, the Member States should soon decide on this period themselves. The proposals also allow small farms to be exempt from controls and sanctions related to environmental requirements.
“Brownland regulations will no longer be mandatory”
Before the EU Commission’s announcement, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk had already written that the EU Commission was ready to suspend a requirement for Polish farmers in agricultural policy. “The brownfield site regulation will no longer be mandatory from this year. This is the result of my discussions with the President of the EU Commission,” wrote Tusk on Friday on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
In Poland, farmers have been protesting for weeks against the EU’s “Green Deal” on climate and environmental protection and against the import of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine. They want to prevent cheaper Ukrainian grain from reaching the domestic market. What they particularly criticize about the “Green Deal” is the regulation that stipulates the closure of four percent of the agricultural land.
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