EN 
LV We are pleased with the statement made by the EC Commissioner during his visit to Latvia.
Yesterday, on September 18, during a meeting with the European Commission (EC) Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Čološ in Jaunpils, representatives of Latvian farmers' non-governmental organizations were convinced that by explaining the essence of the matter and substantiating it wisely, the European Commission agrees with the Latvian side's proposals. During the meeting, D. Čološ was handed a letter signed by the largest farmers' non-governmental organizations with several proposals on how to more effectively compensate for the losses caused by the Russian embargo.
Member of the Latvian Agricultural College and the Latvian Agricultural Society, head of the KS “Mūsmāju dārzeni” Edīte Strazdiņa: "During our meeting, D. Čološ mentioned exactly our demands, which we indicate in our letter – both for reducing the bureaucratic burden, simplifying support schemes, and applying an "envelope" to countries, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of supported products. I was surprised by the quick response that the Commissioner is ready to add cabbage and cauliflower specifically for the Baltic States to the existing list of compensated vegetables, for which other member states will not be able to apply for compensation."
LPKS "Piena ceļš" Chairman of the Board Ilze Aizsilniece I am pleased with Ciološ's understanding of the need for rapid action regarding compensation for dairy farmers. I.Aizsilniece: "The Commissioner assured us several times in person that he fully understands the urgency of our needs, and promised to exert maximum influence on the processes so that we can receive compensation by the end of this year. At the same time, he also emphasized that much depends on the ability of our Ministry of Agriculture to prepare the necessary calculations at a sufficiently fast pace."
Deputy Chairperson of the Farmers' Parliament Maira Dzelzkalēja: “The Commissioner confirmed that direct support measures for farmers are needed. The Commission will work on this issue together with Member State experts in the next two weeks, while we will help with farmers' ideas on how to best do this. Support must be directly targeted so that it reaches those farmers who have been most affected by the embargo, for example, the purchase price of milk has fallen below the cost of production.”
The Baltic States, with their small domestic markets and large producers in their neighbors, are very sensitive to overproduction in their neighbors, so it is important for Latvian farmers that the EC supports all producers whose future farming is threatened both directly and indirectly due to the embargo. The dairy farming and fruit and vegetable production sectors are the hardest hit by the Russian food embargo.
Latvian farmers point out to D. Čološ that in the fruit and vegetable sector they have always called on each European Union (EU) member state to introduce its own compensation “package”, rather than applying the first-come, first-served principle, so that countries would compete with each other for 125 million EUR of support at the EU level. Only in such a situation, if one of the member states does not use this “package” in full, would it be redistributed to others. In order to mitigate the impact of the price drop, the previously abolished EU-set restriction should be temporarily restored at the member state level, which provides for the application of support for withdrawal from the market of no more than 5 % of the production placed on the market.
In the dairy sector, farmers explained to the Commissioner the need to provide direct support on the farm, in addition to the support mechanisms already implemented in the European Union.
We remind you that the Baltic States are the territory most affected by the Russian food embargo. Two weeks ago, Baltic farmers prepared and sent a joint letter to the Commissioner, asking for support in mitigating the impact of the embargo, which was also joined by Baltic MEPs.
