Polish farmers to protest in Brussels

The move comes in the lead-up to next week's vote on a resolution regarding the future Common Agricultural Policy of the EU, beginning in 2013.

In cooperation with Polish trade unions, the farmers have planned their trip so that they will be in Brussels on the day of the vote.

The farmers are unhappy with the so-called Dess report, which the Ministry of Agriculture believes is not favourable for Polish agriculture.

“What the German MEP Albert Dess proposes is nothing but a few more years of preserving unequal direct payments between farmers from the new member states, and farmers from the old states,” said Polish MEP Janusz Wojciechowski, who is opposing the resolution.

Meanwhile, the majority of Polish dairy farmers are unhappy about a proposal to abandon the EU milk quota regulations.

They believe that an entirely free market is not entirely positive.

“Some kind of substitute for the regulations should stay,” argues Edmund Borowski from major dairy cooperative Mlekpol.

“It could be to a larger or to a smaller degree, but it should exist,” he said, saying that it takes many years to build up a productive, large scale dairy herd. He is anxious that such investments will be jeopardised.

Poland is the only country to oppose the abandonment of milk quotas. Other members cite that the present system has failed to prevent price fluctuations on the dairy market. (nh)