European Parliament member says current system of direct payments unfair

Albert Dess, head the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development delegation to Latvia, admitted at a meeting with Saeima Deputy Chairwoman Solvita Aboltina (New Era) and members of the Saeima European Affairs Committee that the current system of direct payments is unfair to farmers in the Baltic countries, who receive even five times smaller payments than farmers in certain other European Union member states, the Saeima Press Service informed LETA.

This cannot go on, and a compromise must be found on the problem, Dess said.

Aboltina stressed that agriculture has traditionally been an important national economy sector, and turning the spotlight on the problem now, when the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU is debated, is very important.

Karina Petersone (Latvia's First Party/Latvia's Way), deputy chairwoman of the European Affairs Committee, said that Latvia had hoped, upon joining the EU, that it would get the same common market advantages as the other member states, but now Latvian farmers are disappointed as they cannot compete with farmers in the other EU member states due to the smaller direct payments.

Dess stressed that with the Lisbon Treaty coming into force, the European Parliament now has the right to decide important agricultural policy matters.

Asked what specific aid amounts Latvian farmers could count on after the new perspective comes into force in 2013, the EP members said that they could not give any specific figures at this time, because the new system would be developed in discussions among the EU governments. However, Dess said that, thanks to the new authority of the European Parliament, he would be able to defend the Baltic countries' interests, and the Common Agricultural Policy would be fairer after 2013.

At the same time, the European Parliament delegation said that many European Parliament members believe that the EU's Agricultural Policy needs to be reformed so that farmers receive larger subsidies for their work, not simply for having large land plots.

Emīlija Kozule LETA

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