Poland is in the process of drafting a list of modifications to the European Union’s Green Deal program and it would be prepared together with farmers, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday, after meeting with the representatives of Polish farmers protesting in Warsaw.
Polish farmers have been continuing their protests against the Green Deal, the EU’s climate neutrality scheme, and imports of cheap Ukrainian produce.
At a press conference after the meeting, Tusk said: “It goes without saying that it’s not about abolishing or getting rid of the Green Deal in its entirety but practically all of the provisions in the Green Deal concerning agriculture and duty-free trade (with Ukraine).”
He added that farmers were unanimous in their belief that the Green Deal dictated conditions and used strong-arm tactics so that if certain actions were not completed, subsidies, for example, would be withheld.
This must be altered as “farmers are prepared to implement the Green Deal in a flexible and gradual manner, but they do not agree to compulsory enforcement of provisions which are not entirely rational and, from the point of view of Polish agriculture, are exaggerated, to put it mildly,” said Tusk adding that he is on the farmer’s side.
He also announced that a list of “Polish proposals” would be prepared in cooperation with farmers and that they would contain a note that “Polish agriculture will not be interested and will not respect the provisions (Green Deal) if they are not changed.”
Another meeting with farmers is expected to take place on either March 5 or March 7, the prime minister added.
He said that during the next meeting, he would inform everyone “about the effects of the actions that have been taken, or about any potential drastic decisions that need to be taken, if necessary.”
At a press conference after the meeting, Tusk said: “It goes without saying that it’s not about abolishing or getting rid of the Green Deal in its entirety but practically all of the provisions in the Green Deal concerning agriculture and duty-free trade (with Ukraine).”
He added that farmers were unanimous in their belief that the Green Deal dictated conditions and used strong-arm tactics so that if certain actions were not completed, subsidies, for example, would be withheld.
This must be altered as “farmers are prepared to implement the Green Deal in a flexible and gradual manner, but they do not agree to compulsory enforcement of provisions which are not entirely rational and, from the point of view of Polish agriculture, are exaggerated, to put it mildly,” said Tusk adding that he is on the farmer’s side.
He also announced that a list of “Polish proposals” would be prepared in cooperation with farmers and that they would contain a note that “Polish agriculture will not be interested and will not respect the provisions (Green Deal) if they are not changed.”
Another meeting with farmers is expected to take place on either March 5 or March 7, the prime minister added.
He said that during the next meeting, he would inform everyone “about the effects of the actions that have been taken, or about any potential drastic decisions that need to be taken, if necessary.”
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