The Association of Agricultural Producers in Bulgaria (AZPB) will participate in a key meeting of the agricultural branch with the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Janusz Wojciechovski, who is on a working visit to Bulgaria, the AZPB press center announced.
The meeting is held in order to discuss the current challenges and future directions for the development of agriculture in Bulgaria and the EU.
The main topics of conversation will include discussion of key problems facing agriculture in Bulgaria and the EU. Among them are the economic consequences of Russia's military aggression in Ukraine, including increased production costs, uncontrolled imports and low sales prices.
"We will put an emphasis on the issue regarding the imposition of quotas on Ukrainian imports based on exports from Ukraine to the EU before the war," said Vencislav Varbanov, Chairman of the Board of the AZPB.
Issues related to climate change and the inadequacy of the Green Deal, including the overwhelming environmental demands on agriculture, will also be addressed.
The high degree of administrative burden for farmers at both national and European level, as well as the lack of an adequate policy regarding the preservation of labor in rural areas and their depopulation, will also be part of the agenda of the meeting.
In order to ensure a better development of agriculture, it is necessary for Europe to decide what the purpose of the Common Agricultural Policy is - whether to continue to be a guarantor of food security or to promote boutique ecological agriculture.
Whatever the decision is for the future of our agriculture, it must be adequately funded, and the trend of a shrinking CAP budget must be stopped.
During the meeting, it will also be proposed to create a comprehensive legislative framework for dealing with crises, which would be triggered automatically in such cases.
The complications introduced in the recent amendments to the Common Agricultural Policy should be reviewed to make it easier to support farmers.
