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1/3/2024 Updated 2 hours ago|Source: ČTK, ČT24
Briefing by Minister of Agriculture Výborný on the results of the coalition negotiations on support for farmers (source: ČT24)
This year, the government will add money to support welfare in animal farms and next year will support employment in the countryside with two billion kroner with discounts on social insurance for agricultural employees, announced Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný (KDU-ČSL). Similar demands were among the five conditions of the Agricultural Union and the Agrarian Chamber in order not to proceed with the March 7 protest in Prague. The decision whether they will demonstrate is up to the farmers, Výborný added.
The minister held talks with the chairman of the Agricultural Union, Martin Pýcha, and the president of the Agrarian Chamber, Jan Doležal. According to Výborný, support from national agricultural subsidies will be increased this year by 550 million crowns from the current 672 million crowns in the animal welfare support program. There is an agreement with Finance Minister Zbyňek Stanjura (ODS) on two billion crowns for discounts on social insurance for employees in agriculture for next year, Výborný said.
He reiterated that the government will continue to reduce bureaucracy in agriculture, citing as an example the abolition of the condition of proof of debt-free investment support. According to Výborný, the resort is also determining the scope of inspections in agriculture and their necessity, the goal being to eliminate repeated ones. The minister also reminded of the plan to target medium-sized agricultural enterprises with investment support in the amount of up to three billion crowns, which he announced after a meeting with farmers’ representatives on Thursday.
According to Výborný, European agriculture should also be helped by limiting the import of cereals and oilseeds from Russia. He said that he is looking for ways to prevent this in the future at the EU level with Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (Pirates). According to him, the Czech Republic is not directly affected by the problem, because imports from Russia do not go there, but it lowers the prices of agricultural commodities.
Events: The government met some of the farmers’ demands (source: ČT24)
Agricultural organizations will discuss the protests on Monday
Farmers are asking to support employment in the countryside, not to cut support for animal welfare and to return land taxation to the level before the government’s consolidation package, or not to tax European operating subsidies. Another requirement is that the government actively defends the interests of Czech farmers in connection with the trade agreement with Ukraine, and the fifth is the maximum possible increase in emergency aid to farmers, if the European Commission allows it.
After Friday’s meeting with Minister Výborny, the agricultural organizations see a shift, however, according to them, he did not fulfill all five points that conditioned the cancellation of the protests. “We’ve kind of moved on in terms of what the government can do for us as farmers in some way. However, at least from my point of view, there are still things that have not been resolved,” Doležal pointed out. As an example, he cited demands to return agricultural land taxation to the level before the government’s consolidation package or to increase national subsidies to 2022 levels.
The President of the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic Jan Doležal and the Chairman of the Agricultural Union of the Czech Republic Martin Pýcha comment on the meeting with the Minister of Agriculture Výborny (source: ČT24)
“We talked about more specific things, the minister partially agreed with us or was able to negotiate support that partially meets our requirements,” commented Pýcha. Pých sees shortcomings in solving the current economic situation of farmers. “What the minister presented are legitimate proposals that we welcome, but they do not solve the economic situation,” he said. According to him, an acute rescue package, which would be financed from the resources of the European Union, could help. “If it would not be financed from European sources, it is necessary to find them at the national level,” he says.
According to Doležal and Pýcha, agricultural organizations will meet again on Monday to discuss possible protests. “We will again convene the board of directors of the Agrarian Chamber, the Agricultural Union, again colleagues from the Society of Young Farmers and the Czech-Moravian Association of Agricultural Entrepreneurs will be invited. We will decide together whether the protests will take place or whether we will somehow correct them,” noted Doležal.
However, the Association of Private Agriculture of the Czech Republic will not join any farmers’ protest. According to its chairman, Jaroslav Šebek, the association, which mainly represents small farmers, has its own ideas on how to support agriculture. He considers the support of medium-sized enterprises to be the main thing.
