Undersecretary of State Ryszard Kamiński received a delegation from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany, headed by Uwe Feiler, Parliamentary Secretary of State.

What followed was an in-depth discussion on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, including in particular Poland's postulate to level out direct payments in the EU after 2020.

Deputy Minister Kamiński presented Poland's arguments in favour of levelling out payments across the EU. He emphasised that the rates in force were based on parameters from 30 years ago which were not reflective of current production costs and were no longer warranted economically. He also pointed to the shared challenges and risks facing agriculture across all EU Member States, shared goals related to the European Green Deal, as well as to the fact that all EU farmers had to abide by the same requirements with regard to environmental protection.

During the meeting, the Polish side presented figures on the prices of many means of production such as fuels, electricity, fertilizers, pesticides, and feedstuffs, which are similar to the prices on the markets of other EU countries, including the German market.

Poland expects a level playing field in the EU single market, and variable payment rates, lower for CEE countries, are distorting fair competition.

Another topic of discussion was the issue of very close cooperation between the veterinary services of Poland and Germany in the area of African Swine Fever, focusing on the pan-European dimension of the problem and the will to work together to combat the virus in Europe.