The Prime Minister appreciates the fight of farmers for fair direct payments and calls for continued work

Today, 26 June, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, Minister of Agriculture Laimdota Straujuma and representatives of Latvian farmers' organisations agreed to jointly defend Latvia's interests at this week's European Council in Brussels. The Prime Minister praised the farmers' efforts to convince decision-makers in the European Union about the Baltics' unequal situation with EU direct payments, and called for the work to continue until a decision is made. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture also promised to find an opportunity to visit Baltic farmers during a protest action on 28 June in Brussels near the European Council building.

At the meeting, which was attended by representatives of the Latvian Agricultural Cooperatives Association (LLKA), the Farmers' Organisations Cooperation Council (LOSP) and the Farmers' Parliament, the farmers introduced the officials to the petition (appeal) to the EU institutions "On fair treatment of Baltic farmers in the European Commission's legal acts on the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013", which has currently been signed by more than 60,000 residents in all three Baltic countries. On Thursday, 28 June, the Baltic farmers' representatives will personally submit the petition to the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz (Martin SchulzLater in the afternoon, Baltic farmers will gather for a peaceful demonstration in front of the European Council building, near the Schuman Circle, in which approximately 50 representatives plan to participate.

Edgars Treibergs, Chairman of the Board of LOSP: “Farmers' organizations appreciate the fact that the Prime Minister is also interested, understands the problems of farmers and the unequal situation compared to other European Union member states. The organizations have agreed on the result we need and we must not deviate from our goal, because we have existed in conditions of unequal competition for a long time, we must finally achieve equal treatment and equal conditions for farmers in all countries.”

Maira Dzelzkalēja, Deputy Chairperson of the Board of the Farmers' Assembly: "We are grateful and very happy for the public support, because our – farmers' – struggle is also a struggle so that we can eat food produced by our own farmers in our own lands, with the tastes and quality we are used to. We have already said several times that currently Baltic farmers understand and are united – either we will achieve equal competition after 2013, or unfortunately some farmers in our countries will not be able to continue production, the pressure of unequal competition is too great. Representatives of the old countries specifically invoke competitiveness as an argument when talking about equalizing payments – only in the context that not a penny should be taken away from anyone, but they stubbornly do not want to see farmers with support of 600 EUR/ha and 93 EUR/ha have to compete in the EU market – you don't have to be an excellent financial expert to understand who has a lower cost of production."

Ilze Aizsilniece, Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of the Latvian Agricultural Council: "In a situation where we are facing such an important decision as the EU's multi-annual budget, especially in the current financial situation, it is very important that state officials go hand in hand with non-governmental organizations. We are pleased that both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture really delve into and understand our unequal position in Europe. We are aware that there is still a long way to go before the final decision is made, but we are determined to fight!"

The activities are implemented within the framework of the National Rural Network event "Sectoral Expert Reports".

Photo: Toms Norde / State Chancellery

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Photo from the protest: