Among politicians in the Agricultural Committee of the European Parliament, dissatisfaction is growing regarding the intransigence of Polish Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski and the overly small European aid packages for various specific agricultural sectors.
The biggest stumbling block is that Wojciechowski has so far been unable to extract sufficient extra funds from the European Commissioners for various agricultural 'emergencies.' An additional committee meeting on this topic will now be held next Monday, this time behind closed doors.
There are urgent calls for European intervention, for example regarding the export of Greek raisins, the actual purchase of millions of liters of Scottish and Danish milk, the growing stocks of French and Spanish wines, or rotting Polish onions and potatoes or French cheeses.
After Members of the European Parliament had already sent two urgent letters last month, Wojciechowski could do little else but partly deflect the criticism again. On one hand, European politicians always oppose when he tries to cut or reallocate budgets and funds; in response, the agricultural MEPs cannot just always ask for more, is his line of defense.
Moreover, Wojciechowski has repeatedly made clear that many of the requested aid packages fall under national competences, and that the EU has been reprimanded several times when Brussels threatens to interfere in national affairs. Actual market intervention requires approval from the Council of Ministers, and those ministers primarily advocate for their own national agricultural sectors. Furthermore, the Agricultural Committee has not yet demonstrated that their wishes and demands have the support of a majority of the European Parliament.
For Wojciechowski, it also plays a role that the 27 EU Commissioners are currently involved in one of Europe's largest financial and operational reorganizations in recent decades, working on the composition of a mega corona recovery fund, from which Wojciechowski may have to surrender tens of billions.
Additionally, Wojciechowski can show the dissatisfied Agricultural Committee that he has indeed achieved results in recent weeks, allowing EU countries the freedom to make various temporary exceptions to EU rules (albeit at their own national expense). The Agricultural Committee called the newest EU aid package for farmers "a good first step," but said Thursday to Wojciechowski that it must be followed up with further actions and funds.
They expressed concern about the lack of money to support his latest EU rescue package. Wojciechowski maintained that the Commission "has done what is currently possible" to "ensure that the problems are addressed." He acknowledged that "the package is probably not entirely satisfactory," but made clear that he also "had to choose" to "help as many people as possible" where "the problems are greatest."
During the video meeting, the letter from forty Members of the European Parliament from almost all parties in twelve agriculturally oriented countries was also discussed, in which they requested that the horticulture and flower-growing sectors be considered for temporary corona bridging credit. The letter warns of a domino effect. Recently, many festivities and events have been canceled, causing great losses in the flower and plant sectors. The domino effect brings the entire sector to the brink of disaster, according to the letter, which was also signed by the four Dutch MEPs in the Agricultural Committee: Annie Schreijer-Pierik (CDA), Jan Huitema (VVD), Bert-Jan Ruissen (SGP), and Peter van Dalen (Christian Union).