Bulgaria joins the request to increase the de minimis aid ceiling in the agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture sector. That stated the Minister of Agriculture and Food Dr. Georgi Tahov at a meeting of the EU Council on Agriculture and Fisheries in Luxembourg. Bulgaria joined a request by Germany and 13 other states to raise the ceiling to 50,000 euros for the next three years. Tahov underscored the importance of a fair budget for farmers in the EU to prevent inequality and to address the challenges facing agriculture.
The Common Agricultural Policy of the EU needs an adequate budget that provides a fair level of support to farmers, to avoid inequality among agricultural producers in the EU, declared the acting agricultural minister Georgi Tahov. “It is important to consider the increasing challenges facing agriculture and to ensure a budget of sufficient size, which will bring security to the sector. It is crucial to work on equalizing the levels of direct payments, so that farmers from states with lower payments can feel on an equal footing with the rest of the farmers in the EU“, he added.
“It is necessary to restore the confidence of agricultural producers in the Common Agricultural Policy,” said Minister Georgi Tahov.
At a discussion on trade-related issues in agriculture, the acting agricultural minister stated that preliminary assessments of the impact of trade agreements and autonomous trade measures of the EU should include a more detailed analysis. The aim is to avoid compromising the viability of sensitive agricultural sectors. Tahov added that a suitable tool for limiting the negative impact would be the introduction of tariff quotas with zero or reduced duty, instead of full liberalization. He also noted that it would be good to have clarity in advance about potential measures to support vulnerable sectors.