On the night of 19-20 March in Jasionka, the Minister of Agriculture, Czesław Siekierski, together with Deputy Minister Michał Kołodziejczak and a group of leaders protesting farmers, made an agreement. It should be added here that bottom-up farmers do not support the content of the agreement concluded by a group of trade unionists and that protests and border blockades will continue.
During the European Agricultural Forum in Jasionka, talks were held between the government and representatives of farmers, which lasted until late night hours. According to unofficial reports published on the TopAgrar portal, any farmers participating in the protest approved an agreement with the Minister of Agriculture, Czesław Siekierski, and Deputy Minister Michał Kołodziejczak.
Which people represented farmers during negotiations with the Ministry of Agriculture?
According to data published by the portal topagrar.pl, in negotiations with the Ministry of Agriculture participated:
- Bieniah (AgroUnion)
- Wiesław Gryn (Vicepres of the Defrauded Village)
- Maciej Izhowski (organizer of the Barwink protest)
- Gabriel Janowski (former Minister of Agriculture)
- Artur Koncik (a farmer representing protesters at the Świecki border)
- Roman Kondrów (from Podkarpackie Defrauded Village)
- Rafał Nieżurbida (leader of the protest of farmers of Lubuska Land)
- Tomasz Obszański (president of the NSZZ RI Solidarity)
- Filip Pawlik (AgroUnion)
- Władysław Serafin (president of KZRKiOR)
- Andrzej Sobociński (a farmer from Żuław, Pomeranian Agricultural Chamber)
The government side was represented by Minister Czesław Siekierski and Deputy Minister Michał Kołodziejczak, and the negotiations were conducted by Artur Balazs.
What arrangements were reached between farmers and the Minister of Agriculture?
According to the information available on the TopAgrar portal, the agreements were not signed by Wiesław Gryn and Andrzej Sobociński.
Lega artis AppHere is the content of the agreement between the government and farmers that TopAgrar has revealed:
- The hard situation in agriculture is due to many causes and negligence. The main origin is Russia's aggression into Ukraine.
- The parties to these arrangements point out that 1 of the main reasons for destabilising the European agricultural marketplace was the unconditional consent of the European Union to unlimited imports of agricultural products from Ukraine, supported by the unequivocal position of the then Government of the Republic of Poland.
- By providing the request for humanitarian, economical and military support to Ukraine, which has been the victim of Russian aggression, both parties point to the fact that Ukrainian agricultural production is based on a completely different structure of farms and is not subject to the requirements imposed on European food producers. The failure to take this into account erstwhile deciding to remove restrictions on Ukrainian producers' access to the Union marketplace was shortsighted and, beyond the negative economical effects, besides affects political and social relations between countries and societies.
- Both the Government and the social side emphasise the request and value of economical relations with Ukraine, but they must take place under specified conditions as not to destabilise the EU market.
- Since both parties consider it essential to make rules governing trade in agri-food products, including their transit between Poland and Ukraine, the existing embargo on agricultural products introduced by the Council of Ministers Regulation of 15 September 2023 will be maintained.
- The Minister of Agriculture requested the Council of Ministers to suspend transit from Ukraine of the products covered by the abovementioned Regulation from Ukraine through the territory of Poland on 1 April 2024.
- By the date of entry into force of the EU ATM Regulation (5 June 2024), both the embargo and the suspension of transit will besides cover sugar.
- Both parties agree that the regulation of trade relations with Ukrainians must primarily have a Community dimension and be based on the determination of marketplace conditions for goods from Ukraine, including in peculiar cereals, rape, maize (and derived products for those categories specified as sharps, flours, groats, oils) sugar, poultry, eggs, soft fruit (and derived products), apples and apple concentrate. These conditions should be based on mention periods.
- Irrespective of matters relating to the regulation of trade relations with Ukraine, the Parties to this Agreement declare their readiness to make a set of measures and actions to alleviate the disturbance of the agricultural marketplace to farmers, including:
- wheat, wheat, barley, rye, cereal mixtures will be subject to subsidies (up to the first 300 ha) based on the aid strategy in force in 2023, which will include sales made during the period from 1 January 31 May 2024.
- maintaining an agricultural taxation of no higher than 2023.
- The social side declares to support the Government's efforts to change the principles on which the European Green Deal in agriculture is based.
- The agreed solutions between Prime Minister Donald Tuski and president Ursula Von der Leyen have made crucial changes that take into account the proposals and expectations of farmers reported during the protests. The most crucial is: replacing compulsory cooking with voluntary ecoschema, simplifying diversification and modification from 2024, allowing associate States to set a period of maintenance of the dirt cover, for farms up to 10 hectares, to waive sanctions for non-compliance with environmental requirements (the alleged conditionality).
- The review of these rules will continue. 1 of the first tasks should be to examine the anticipation of reducing the number of eco-schemats and the general simplification of support rules for farmers implementing environmental practices.
Farmers outraged by the government's agreement. “We didn’t mean that”
Most farmers who strike present are outraged by the signed agreement.
If you are looking for legal assistance, we invitation you to take advantage of our offer. In order to make a reservation for the consultation deadline, delight contact us by telephone: 579-636-527 or 22-266-86-18 or by emailing @: Contactlegartis.pl
If you think that our publications deserve support from employees who search hundreds of pages all day, you can support us by going to: Support Lega Artis
We reserve that we do not supply pro bono legal advice.
Daniel Głogowski
Publicist, author and social activist. The first articles were published in 1999 for global publishers. For more than 30 years, he has gained his experience through cooperation with the largest editorial offices. In his articles, he sought to address controversial themes and present first viewpoints that allowed for a deeper knowing of the issues discussed. Over the years, he gained a reputation as a reliable journalist. Contact: [email protected]
