Wojchiekowski: farm-to-table not a threat but reinforcement

Resumed hearing of Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI, Commissioner-designate, Agriculture - Q&A

The European "farm to fork" strategy will not weaken or threaten the potential of European agriculture, but enhance it, EU Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said at a meeting of the Polish Agriculture Commission. According to him, achieving the objectives of the Climate Package Green Deal in Poland will not be a problem.

The more that the targets are non-mandatory, the more farmers will be encouraged to participate, he expects. The current challenge for the European Commission and the LNV ministers is to draw up and put into practice National Strategic Plans (NSPs) for the common agricultural policy.

To date, there are 118 rural development plans in the EU as many countries have implemented regional plans. Each country (except Belgium, which will have a separate plan for Wallonia and Flanders) must submit one Strategic Plan to Brussels. That should happen before the end of this year, but many LNV ministers say they need more time.

Wojciechowski emphasized that the NSPs apply to agriculture, not industry. According to him, the countries in Eastern Europe have the most air and soil pollution from industry, which still largely runs on coal. But in the case of agriculture, the situation is different, because the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the East is – according to him – below the EU average.

According to Wojciechowski, the Green Deal is not an obligation for farmers, because it is not the farmers but the EU countries that are responsible for reducing fertilizers, pesticides or antibiotics. In his view, these are political, pan-European goals that should be pursued through incentives, not coercion.

Polish MPs and farmers pointed out during the discussion in the Sejm that many studies have recently appeared that show that the European Green Deal in the EU will lead to a decrease in agricultural production, farmers' incomes and food exports.

But Wojciechowski disagrees with this approach. According to him, there is no simple relationship between lowering the fertilization and lowering the yield. The examples of France and Finland show that production even increased despite less fertilizer use. The future, he says, is precision fertilization and the EU should support the purchase of such equipment.