Farmers forced Commissioner Wojciechowski to change his plans. At the union’s headquarters he spoke, among others: about his departure
Janusz Wojciechowski, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, met with farmers on Friday and declared support for them. He also explained that not all demands raised by farmers can be met, and the EU Green Deal, which has brought farmers from all over Europe to the road, is not only unpleasant obligations, but also solutions that are an opportunity for the entire society and therefore it is not worth rejecting it in whole.
The meeting of the EU commissioner with protesting farmers took place at the junction of the S3 expressway in Renice. As reported by Radio Szczecin, the commissioner was somehow forced by the farmers to go with them to the headquarters of the West Pomeranian Chamber of Agriculture in Szczecin, where the talks continued.
During Friday’s meeting, Wojciechowski said that he had no intention of resigning from the position of Commissioner for Agriculture, regardless of the fact that Jarosław Kaczyński and Minister of Agriculture Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz expressed such expectations. – Farmers don’t call me to do this, they are critical, but they want me to work for them. As long as I see the opportunity to do something important for Polish farmers, I will work, he declared, quoted by TVN.
Farmers are protesting, among others: against the Green Deal
Wojciechowski assured that he would cooperate with the government regardless of political differences. – I will do everything, I will not rest until this matter is resolved – he announced.
Farmers took to the roads in all regions with two basic demands. The first is the demand to seal the border with Ukraine and guarantee that goods that are only supposed to transit through Poland will not actually reach our market. Farmers argue that despite the government’s assurances, this is not the case and they once again have to compete with cheaper food from Ukraine.
The second demand of farmers is to withdraw from the Green Deal, i.e. a set of steps that are intended to lead member states to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050. Adapting to the requirements will cost billions of zlotys and includes, among others: replacing heat sources with more ecological ones. Farmers do not agree to forced reductions in C0 emissions2 in its activities. However, Janusz Wojciechowski convinced farmers that the Green Deal is not only about obligations, but also about actions that will improve the situation of farmers. – We cannot say that we will throw out the entire Green Deal, because it contains good things, less good things and things that farmers consider bad. (…) The point is to ensure that whatever ecological elements there are in agriculture have a rational shape – he said.
