Purpose of the meeting

The purpose of the meeting was to bring their positions closer to one another in order to ensure more effective implementation of the Central European countries’ interests at the European Union level.

The Agriculture Ministers of the countries of the expanded Visegrad Group stressed that the meeting was held at a very difficult time when the issues of food security were particularly important and the unity of the counties of our region was needed more than ever.

The EU Regulation on the use of plant protection products

The Ministers exchanged their views on the proposal for an amendment to the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the sustainable use of plant protection products. Deputy Minister Krzysztof Ciecióra informed that Poland did not accept the solutions proposed by the EC, since they posed a risk for food security and could lead to greater dependence of the European Union on food imports and weaken its resilience to emergency situations.

“The solutions proposed by the European Commission do not guarantee equal treatment of the Member States and can distort competition on the single market. In addition, they will weaken the competitiveness of the EU agriculture, since, at the same time, the EC does not propose any solutions which ensure the enforcement of analogous requirements for the food imported to the European market from third countries,” Deputy Minister Krzysztof Ciecióra said.

He stressed that this was particularly dangerous in the case of countries with low consumption of plant protection products.

“The radical reduction of the use of pesticides in our countries can make it impossible o ensure plant protection and, thus, stop production,” the Undersecretary of State pointed out.

“The Member States should be able to define at the national level the measures to limit the dependence of agriculture on chemical plant protection products, taking into account the specific local circumstances, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle,” Deputy Minister Krzysztof Ciecióra added.

The deputy head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture stressed the importance of the existing very intensive cooperation of the GV4+4 countries at the EU level in this scope. He pointed out that, in consequence of this, it was now possible to present a strong position of the countries of our region during the meetings of Council of EU Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRIFISH).

Carbon farming

During the meeting carbon farming was also discussed, Deputy Minister Krzysztof Ciecióra stressed that Poland recognised the potential of the practices intended to reduce emissions and sequestrate carbon in soil. He pointed out that farmers should be rewarded for these activities and that the scheme of support for carbon farming should be adequately financed.

As a conclusion of their talks on this subject, the Ministers signed the Joint Declaration of the Visegrad Group and Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovenia on the challenges and opportunities facing the Member States in relation to the EU initiatives on carbon farming. The document contains a number of important postulates and is an important joint voice of the countries of our region in the further discussion at the EU level.

The situation on the agricultural markets in relation to the war in Ukraine

The third subject of the Ministers’ talks was the situation on the agricultural markets in light of the armed conflict in Ukraine.

“There is a need for greater involvement and support of the European Commission for the actions undertaken by Poland for many months to increase the throughput capacity of Polish-Ukrainian border crossings,” the Deputy Minister Krzysztof Ciecióra pointed out.

He stressed that, given the need to ensure the continuity of energy and fuel supplies for food production, the EU policy on renewable energy sources also had to be revised.

“The Member States should be enabled to apply different types of national instruments to increase the use of renewable energy sources based on the countries’ own resources,” Undersecretary of State Krzysztof Ciecióra noted.

Talks with the Agriculture Ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovakia about the reports on feed contamination in Poland

On the sidelines of the meeting, Deputy Minister Krzysztof Ciecióra talked with Mr. Zdenek Nekula, the Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, and Mr. Samuel Vlčan, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Slovakia, about the media reports on the contamination of feeds sold in Poland. Deputy Minister Krzysztof Ciecióra assured that the competent authorities in Poland carried out a detailed investigation in this matter. The results of the tests done to date do not demonstrate exceedances of the applicable standards and the feedstuffs and feeds produced from them pose no risk to the food of animal origin.