Poland among countries to be hit by CAP cuts

The European Commission proposed a new, reduced Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget on Friday, under which direct payments to Polish farmers are to be cut by 1 percent and the fund for development of rural areas by around 25 percent.

EC Commissioner Phil Hogan announced that the CAP budget is planned at EUR 365 billion, down 5 percent from the current seven-year budget, if calculated in current prices, or by 12 percent, if calculated in fixed prices from 2018.

Under plans for 2021-2027, EU farmers would receive around EUR 265.2 billion in direct support, EUR 78.8 billion is to support rural regions and EUR 20 billion is to support agricultural markets.

Polish farmers are to receive direct payments worth EUR 21.2 billion in current prices, which is ca. 1 percent less than in the current budget, or EUR 18.9 billion in fixed prices from 2018.

The EC explained that the cuts were cause by the fact that Polish agriculture was reaching the EU average level while for the countries where the sector's development was lower (for instance, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) the payments remained unchanaged.

As part of the fund for the development of rural areas, Poland is to obtain EUR 9.2 billion in current prices or EUR 8.2 billion in fixed prices from 2018, which is ca. 25 percent less than in the current budget.