- Czech farmers are divided. Last Monday, February 19, some of them went to protest in Prague with tractors and in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, and some then went to Malostranské náměstí. However, large non-governmental agricultural organizations distanced themselves from the blockade and protest.
- Against the agricultural policy of the EU last Thursday, February 22 protested in the regions and on the borders by other Czech farmers together with farmers from Slovakia, Poland and Hungary or even Lithuania and Latvia.
- Foreign Minister Marek Výborný (KDU-ČSL) is said to agree with them regarding the bureaucratic burden and the amount of EU controls. The goals of the EU’s Green Deal for Europe (Green Deal), against which farmers also protested, must be realistic, Výborný thinks.
- However, the farmers left disappointed from today’s meeting with the minister, which was focused on by the Agrarian Chamber (AK CR) and the Agricultural Union.
- From the data on the website of Prague, it appears that the Agricultural Union has already announced several meetings for March. On Thursday, March 7, events are reported in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, in front of the government office, on Malostranské and Wenceslas Square, as well as on the Letenská plain.
- Gatherings are then reported in the same places throughout the week from March 11 to 15. The organizers expect around 1,000 people to attend each of them. The official purpose of the events is: “Warning on the situation in agriculture and the bad setting of the common agricultural policy”.
The Chairman of the Agricultural Union, Martin Pýcha, after meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Mark Výborny (KDU-ČSL), stated that the farmers have five specific demands towards the minister and the government.
Five requirements
Farmers demand to support rural employment through social insurance, not to cut national support for animal welfare and return the level of land taxation to the original level before the consolidation package, where appropriate to pay European operating subsidies from the first pillar of the EU’s common agricultural policy.
The fourth requirement is that the prime minister and the ministers of agriculture and industry actively defend the interests of Czech farmers in negotiations on a trade agreement with Ukraine. The last requirement is that if the European Commission allows for an increase in extraordinary aid to farmers from European or national sources, the Czech Republic should do so to the maximum extent possible.
Disappointment and preparations for the demonstration
President of the AK CR Jan Doležal from today’s meeting with Výborný, he expected concrete proposals to help Czech agriculture. “But I only heard some outlines,” he said. He therefore described the meeting as a disappointment.
Farmers’ representatives today called for the preparation of a protest action for next Thursday, March 7. “If the minister really came up with concrete proposals, the demonstration would not have to take place,” stated Pride.
Excellent: We act and we will act
Minister Výborný told journalists on Thursday afternoon that he would be able to tell the representatives of the Agrarian Chamber and the Agricultural Union within hours whether he had agreed on some proposals to support the sector with the coalition. “We will act tonight, maybe even tomorrow.” said the minister.
“This year, we plan to target investment support – in the amount of up to three billion crowns – to medium-sized enterprises, which are currently the worst off, there is coalition agreement on this. However, some things are still under negotiation, a coalition debate is currently underway on some instruments that would help farmers,” said Výborný in a statement to ČTK. “I expect the result within a few hours, I will inform the farmer about it tomorrow (Friday),” remarked the minister.
Restrictions on chicken, sugar and eggs from Ukraine?
“Regarding the topics mentioned by representatives of agricultural organizations, I support the European Commission increasing support for farmers from the European budget,” said Excellent.
“Regarding imports of agricultural commodities from Ukraine, the extension of the duty-free regime will now include restrictions on the import of chicken meat, sugar and eggs. I also support that a similar restriction applies to cereals. As for the requirement not to cut national subsidies, I managed to keep them at last year’s level for this year,” he added.
Even before the meeting, Výborný announced that the debate on proposals to support agriculture in the coalition is still ongoing. Therefore, at today’s meeting, Výborný should have asked the Agrarian Chamber and the Agricultural Union to hold off on convening farmers’ protests against the national policy.
“I must say that intensive political negotiations are taking place, but we have not yet discussed all the points,” warned Excellent before the meeting. So far, according to him, the coalition has agreed that support should be more focused on medium-sized enterprises and on the need to reduce the bureaucratic burden.
“Farmers have already started driving through our fields. This means that if we want to involve farmers in protests, we don’t have much time left,” announced Pýcha before today’s meeting.
For example, the Minister for Regional Development and the chairman of the Pirates, Ivan Bartoš he had said before that he would the abolition of taxation of agricultural subsidies ultimately benefited large enterpriseswhich are being bought by small and medium-sized enterprises in an attempt to achieve higher support, he said.
“We will support any meaningful proposal that helps farmers, but I want to point out that there are other sectors that are in big trouble,” Alena Schillerová, chairwoman of the ANO parliamentary club, stated earlier.
Will agricultural machinery head to Prague again?
The concrete form of the protest action should be presented by the farmers’ representatives on Tuesday. Yet they assume that agricultural machinery will arrive in the capital, that there will be a demonstration and protest in front of the Government Office.
Doležal emphasized that the demonstration should not be political, but aimed at meeting specific demands. According to Pýcha, the farmers would protest as long as the government did not comply with them. “At the moment, we feel enormous pressure on us to hold protests. Farmers realize that decisions about them will not be made in the field, but in the Government Office,” stated Pride.
Union representatives expect a large turnout, even though preparations for spring work are just beginning. Doležal also invited the Czech-Moravian Association of Agricultural Entrepreneurs, the Association of Young Farmers and members of the Association of Private Agriculture as well as non-members of any other organization to participate in the protest.
Czech farmers protested against the agricultural policy of the European Union already last Thursday, when about 3,000 pieces of agricultural machinery went to the borders with Slovakia, Poland and Germany. Farmers also protested in the centers of some large cities.
Three days earlier, some farmers demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Agriculture in Prague and partially blocked the highway with hundreds of tractors. The main agricultural organizations distanced themselves from this protest.
