Romanian Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu has been urged to call for the resignation of EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski if Romanian farmers are not granted crop rotation and fallow land exemptions at Tuesday’s Council of Ministers.
In 2023, Romania obtained exemptions for GAEC standards 7 (crop rotation) and 8 (fallow land). Subsequently, Barbu engaged in discussions with the European Commission and the Council to obtain a new exemption for 2024.
These exemptions are one of the main demands of Romanian farmers and were outlined in an agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and significant agricultural associations. The minister assured farmers he would address the matter in Brussels.
Romania will formally request exemptions from the rules on crop rotation and non-cultivation of certain land in 2024 at the Agriculture Council on Tuesday.
Farmers from Târgu Mureş, in the west, have specifically asked the minister to call for the commissioner’s resignation if the exemptions are not granted.
Asked whether he had the government’s mandate to demand the commissioner’s resignation, Barbu replied: “I have the mandate of the farmers, of all the associations in agriculture,” News.ro reported.
Alin Mituța, a member of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee (AGRI), criticised Barbu, saying he was “taking farmers for fools” and trying to shift responsibility for his perceived incompetence to Brussels.
According to Article 148 of Regulation 2115/2021, derogations can exceptionally be granted for one year.
Since Romania received a derogation last year, obtaining it again this year would require changes through a vote in the Commission, Council and Parliament, which Mituța considers a “complex and almost impossible procedure”.
Last week, Commissioner Wojciechowski told the National Council of Agricultural Chambers in Poland that the European Commission would no longer approve derogations from GAEC standards 6, 7 and 8. The lack of standards in agriculture and environmental protection is incompatible with the Common Agricultural Policy, the commissioner said, according to Wrp.pl.
(Cătălina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)
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Source: euractiv.com
