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LV Baltic farmers demand honest support from Von Der Leyen
This week, representatives of farmers' organisations from the Baltic States called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in an open letter to use the new EU multiannual budget as a tool to ensure a strong and fair recovery for Member States from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the current crisis is having an impact on the entire society and economy, it is crucial that the planned recovery measures end the long-standing inequalities observed among farmers in the European Union.
Covid-19 has completely changed the way Europeans work and live. Farmers also need to adapt quickly to rapidly changing consumption trends, the availability of food at reasonable prices, as well as the healthiness of food. Direct payments, which are part of the European Common Agricultural Policy, serve as a safety net for our food security, especially in times of crisis. However, Baltic farmers are still discriminated against, receiving the lowest direct payments in the entire European Union, even though our production costs are well above the European Union average, amounting to 129% of the average EU production costs in Estonia, 113% in Latvia and 112% in Lithuania. Consequently, our farmers' incomes are much more closely linked to market fluctuations than those of farmers in other countries.
Since joining the European Union in 2004, farmers from all 3 Baltic states have received the lowest direct payments compared to other EU member states, currently this indicator ranges from 54-60% of the EU average payment amount. The basis for this injustice is incorrect and biased calculations of the productivity of Baltic farmers, which were made before joining the EU bloc. Support calculations were made during a period when Baltic farmers experienced radical changes and restructuring, moving from the Soviet-era collective farm systems to the private family farm model. During this turbulent time, farm productivity fell sharply, reaching its lowest point, however, these years have been chosen for support calculations, which has led to historical injustice.
Seven years ago, in February 2013, the European Council unanimously decided that “by 2020 at the latest, all EU Member States should receive at least EUR 196 per hectare, at current prices”. Unfortunately, this was not fulfilled, and even after this agreement, the Baltic States systematically continue to receive only 54-60% of the EU average payment amount, blatantly ignoring the Baltic States’ numerous requests to end this inequality. Unfortunately, decisions taken before the COVID-19 crisis also did not mark an effort to end the long-standing injustice.
The impact of injustice is most clearly visible in crisis situations. European farmers are proud to be able to provide their citizens with healthy, nutritious and fresh food, produced in compliance with the highest environmental and food safety requirements in the world. However, the current market signs are not promising, strongly reminiscent of the 2014 agricultural crisis caused by the Russian food embargo. We recall that Baltic farmers took the brunt of this embargo personally, and it did not affect all farmers in the European Union proportionally in the same way. Moreover, we see the first signals that individual European Union countries are expanding their market protectionist measures, degrading the fundamental value of the EU – the single market.
We believe that an ambitious recovery strategy and a fair agricultural policy must be key elements to ensure a successful and united European recovery from this crisis.
As Ursula von der Leyen works on a new budget that will strengthen Europe's resilience, we reminded the EC President that she has a unique opportunity to correct this historical injustice and strengthen the EU's food chain. Ending injustice is key to ensuring that no country is left behind in Europe's future multiannual budget. Agriculture is the foundation that can lead us out of any crisis, so it is necessary to maintain strong funding for both direct payments and rural development, developing market security instruments, and ending the historical injustice of the radical differences in direct payments between Member States.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. We cannot allow the collapse of the European food chain, so we call for all links in the chain to be strengthened equally in the future budget, and for Baltic farmers to stop being treated as second-class citizens.