Today, December 10, we will meet with Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš

Today, December 10, the associations “Farmers' Council”, “Latvian Agricultural Cooperative Association”, “Latvian Farmers' Federation”, Representatives of the "Association of Agricultural Statutory Societies" and the "Cooperation Council of the Latvian Agricultural Organization" will meet with Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš to remind them of the protection of the interests of Latvian farmers - fair financing for Latvian farmers in the next planning period, before the European Council meeting, which will take place on December 12 in Brussels.

Maira Dzelzkalēja-Burmistre, Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of the Association “Farmers' Council”: “These days, not only we, Latvian farmers, but also farmers in Estonia and Lithuania, will meet with the head of our state. Our common goal is to remind the heads of state about the unequal distribution of funding between the European Union member states and to invite them to represent our interests at the European Council meeting. We will also hand over to the Prime Minister the letter we prepared last week to the leaders of the European Union and present a loaf of bread, symbolically cutting off 1/4 of it. The loaf of bread symbolizes the support of the European Union – the bread that farmers must live on. Farmers in each country receive support, but we, farmers in the Baltic states, compared to the average EU farmer who receives a full loaf of bread, receive only 3/4 of the bread.”

Last week, the leaders of the Baltic farmers’ NGOs sent an open letter to the leaders of the European Union, reminding them that the questions that matter to farmers are still unanswered. Since joining the EU in 2004, farmers from all three Baltic countries have received the lowest level of direct support compared to other member states. Currently, only 54–60% of the European average. Production costs are higher than the EU average – 129% (Estonia), 112% (Lithuania) and 113% (Latvia), respectively.

Seven years ago, in early February 2013, the European Council unanimously agreed that all Member States should achieve a direct payment level of at least 196 euros per hectare by 2020 at the latest. The promise has not been fulfilled and the level for Baltic farmers in 2020 will be around 176 euros.

As public pressure mounts, farmers are forced to adopt new and often expensive climate-friendly farming methods. These investments cannot be done without strong funding for Rural Development, which unfortunately we do not see in the current European Commission proposal.

PRESS RELEASE_Today farmers will meet with Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš_10.12.2019.