Romanian government reaches agreement with farmers following a week of protests

An agreement was reached between the Agriculture Ministry and representatives of major agricultural organisations on Monday, with the former addressing several demands by farmers who have been protesting for six days.

Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu disclosed that the agreement encompasses 13 farmers’ demands. Discussions will keep on to find a compromise on outstanding requests.

The government committed to fully subsidising all agricultural excise until 2026 and promptly enacting regulations for subsidised interest loans.

Micu added that it is important for the government to grant a derogation from mandatory crop rotation rules and a 4% fallow land threshold in each farm by 31 January.

The agreement signed after more than three hours of negotiations does not mean an immediate end to the protest as upcoming negotiations with transporters – scheduled to continue until Thursday – may impact its duration, according to Marius Micu, one of the farmers’ representatives in the talks.

Additionally, the government accepted requests for compensating losses caused by imports from Ukraine. Measures include distinct labelling for cereals and other goods and electronic seal monitoring with GPS at the Port of Constanța.

Barbu denied that Romania sought import taxes on grain from Ukraine.

The EU’s eastern states are demanding the EU impose import duties on Ukraine grains, citing unfair competition, Hungary’s agricultural ministry said on Monday.

The Ministry said the farm ministers from Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia sent a letter to the EU Commission requesting the measures, saying cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine are eating into their export markets, according to Reuters.

“In that letter, I requested a derogation for the Romanian farmers regarding the 4% fallow land. I don’t know what the Hungarian minister said”, Florin Barbu told journalists.

(Cătălina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)