”Polish villages deserve to have conditions and standard of living similar to cities. Education, healthcare, roads, railways – all that was wound up, we will unwind,” said the Prime Minister during the celebrations. He added that the Government is building communal and regional roads and opening new railway services.

The Government cares about the interests of Polish villages

In recent years, the Government has introduced legal protection of land against sale, allocated over PLN 80 million towards support for the mission carried out by the Farmer's Wives' Associations and negotiated 32 billion euro for Polish farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy.

”Polish villages mean, above all, culture and wonderful traditions, which is why we have launched a large-scale programme for the Farmer's Wives' Associations. Significant expenditures related to equipment and additional resources also mean funds for the Voluntary Fire Service. This is our promise to Polish villages,” continued Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

During the event, the Prime Minister presented medals commemorating the 100th anniversary of the restoration of independence to the Farmer's Wives' Associations for cultivating traditions and teaching them to future generations.

Support in the fight against drought

In 2018 and 2019, farmers were strongly affected by drought. However, they were not left alone with this problem: the Government has provided aid of PLN 4.5 billion, which is a record-breaking amount, not only on the national scale, but on the EU scale as well. It is the highest support ever paid out in Poland.

Another duty of the Government is to combat the effects of natural disasters; this is covered by a large-scale insurance programme which will be universally available to all Polish farmers.

Service to Polish villages is at the core of the Polish Order programme

“Our credibility lies in the fact that when we say we will do something, we do it. Our promise is that we will work hard to improve matters and increase prosperity and security. We will do everything we can to fight for a better future for Polish villages and Polish farmers,” said the Prime Minister, thanking the farmers for their hard work and cultivation of Polish traditions.

Under the Polish Order, the Government will support Polish farmers and Polish villages. Polish agriculture needs a good road, transport, energy and internet infrastructure. Polish Order means not only a large-scale support programme for Polish agriculture, real money and significant funds from the European Union; it also means a support programme for Polish culture and rural traditions. We will do all in our power to ensure that the growth of Polish villages is as fast and beautiful as possible.

One of the key issues tackled by the Polish Order is agriculture; this is done via the “Poland – Our Land” programme. One of its goals is to support small and medium farms. This is a change compared to the previous policy, which was more favourable for larger farms. The closure of small processing plants cut the smaller farms from the market. Restoration of small companies and local markets will improve the position of small and medium farms.

Assumptions of the Polish Order for agriculture and rural development

Through the Polish Order, the Government wants to ensure better prospects for farmers. One of the key solutions is the increase of tax-exempt income from PLN 40 thousand to PLN 100 thousand. This will ensure higher sales revenues for farmers.

• Freeing of Agricultural Retail Trade

The Government has already approved a draft bill in this matter. The increase of tax-exempt income from PLN 40 thousand to PLN 100 thousand means higher sales revenues for farmers. Under current regulations, engaging in Agricultural Retail Trade (ART) can only be done within the voivodeship where the place of production is located or within a neighbouring voivodeship. These regulations will be amended for the farmers’ benefit by permitting distance selling under ART throughout Poland and creating a programme for assisting the National Support Centre for Agriculture (NSCA).

The introduced changes will also open the opportunity to produce and sell food under Agricultural Retail Trade (ART) for and to retail establishments targeting final consumers, such as stores, restaurants or cafeterias, throughout the entire country.

• Higher fuel subsidies for farmers

This is another issue for which a draft bill has already been approved by the Government. Payment of higher subsidies will begin in the first half of 2022. We will also increase the consumption limit for diesel fuel used for farm work from 100 to 110 litres per 1 ha of agricultural land.

• Prevention of unfair use of contractual advantage in agricultural and food product trade

This pertains to, among others, specification of 16 unfair trade practices in relationships between entrepreneurs in the agricultural and food product supply chain. Thanks to the new solutions, agricultural and food product suppliers will enjoy higher operational certainty in the domestic market. The Government has already approved a draft bill in this matter.

• Family Farm Act

Rules for supporting the growth of family farms will be created. We will prepare a package of systemic changes to restore full economic and social dignity to Polish farmers running family farms.

• More EU funds to support rural development

In addition to existing EU instruments supporting the development of Polish villages, such as the Common Agricultural Policy or the cohesion policy, the Government will also direct funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan towards support for Polish rural areas.