On Tuesday, March 19, after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Donald Tusk held a press conference, during which the Prime Minister announced, among other things, that the right to restore nature will probably be stopped in the coming days. Tusk also referred to the agricultural protests, pointing out that although the demands with which farmers took to the streets were right, today, when the government is working on implementing them, further fueling the strikes is the action of political opponents. – Open your eyes wide and see who is persuading you today, because we are doing everything to give you relief, and some are doing everything to use you against me and my government – he said.
During the Prime Minister’s conference summarizing the latest government activities, as well as the 100 days in office of the current cabinet, there were many questions related to agriculture. Donald Tusk admitted that he spends 80 percent of his time “fixing what his predecessors broke, for example in matters such as agriculture.”
– In recent weeks, I have been mainly concerned with how to lead Polish agriculture out of these threats. Not all of them are true, but people feel them one way or another, and they result from the completely thoughtless policy of our predecessors: allowing full import of grain and other products from the East, as well as consent and even co-authorship of the provisions of the Green Deal – he said.
Donald Tusk on fallowing
So what did Tusk’s government achieve during its first 100 days of government? First of all, as the Prime Minister points out, the provisions related to fallowing were withdrawn.
– We managed to eliminate most of the threats that Polish farmers talked about and which resulted from the Green Deal, including, for example, fallowing. It was a really hard job to convince people to accept something that had been accepted in the EU for a long time, and of course I didn’t achieve a 100% effect, but it took a lot of energy and time, Tusk said.
Tusk turned to the protesting farmers: Open your eyes!
The Prime Minister was also asked about the farmers’ protests.
– The concerns and emotions among Polish farmers related to the uncontrolled inflow of agri-food products are justified. And I’ve been talking about this from the very beginning. I will not allow the history of these bad events regarding grain and other products coming from the East to be distorted as brazenly as PiS is now doing, he said.
The Prime Minister noted that in this matter “100 percent of the fault and omission lies with Morawiecki, Kaczyński and their agriculture ministers.”
Tusk emphasized that PiS politicians have repeatedly said that there is no problem with Ukrainian grain, that it is good for the Polish economy, and farmers should not sell their grain because its prices will not fall.
– They (previous government – editor’s note) agreed to radical trade liberalization in Brussels. Not Tusk, the mocked “king of Brussels”, but Morawiecki! I am saying this so that it reaches those who are fueling these protests. We are now truly undoing what they have broken. This is not an easy process and a lot has been achieved, he noted.
Prime Minister Tusk also criticized some of the strike leaders, referring to Solidarity activists.
– I have the impression that some of the organizers of the protests, the more we manage to settle, the angrier they become – he said and noted that what had been resolved was the issue of fallow land, and that there would be no conditionality or compulsory conditions for all farmers up to 10 ha with requirements of the Green Deal.
With all my great respect for farmers and understanding of their anger: Open your eyes wide, who is inciting you today, because we are doing everything to give you relief, and some are doing everything to use you against me and my government.
Will the government’s actions cause farmers to stop protesting?
The Prime Minister noted that, in his opinion, today’s protests are organized for different reasons than when farmers took to the streets for the first time. He stressed that the state would not consent to escalation or threats. He noticed that the latter were directed at those who abandoned the blockade.
– I would like to emphasize that the state will not remain inactive towards those who, taking advantage of agricultural protests, will break the law in a drastic way – he emphasized.
The right to recreate nature in the trash? Not entirely, but rather on a voluntary basis
Donad Tusk announced that it will probably be possible to stop the right to recreate nature, i.e. the so-called Nature Restoration Law (NRL), which aims to restore 20 percent. EU land and sea surface by 2030 and all ecosystems requiring restoration by 2050. According to these provisions, EU countries must restore at least 30%. habitats in poor condition by 2030, 60 percent by 2040 and 90 percent by 2050
In a moment we will stop this compulsion regarding peat bogs, wetlands and flooding of roads. There is a vote tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and today this recommendation from the government is clear. And we managed to achieve so much in this matter, so even if it passed despite us, it would still be a much better version – no coercion – said the Prime Minister and added: We will probably manage to block this project altogether and we will act on the principle full voluntariness.
Tusk explained that he is not giving up on this idea because it is needed for water management and environmental protection, and in the long term it is also needed by farmers themselves.
– We will do it without European coercion, only if there is consent, willingness and money – he said.
Tusk: Transit through Poland is radically smaller
Next, the Prime Minister referred to the import of agri-food products from Ukraine. He pointed out that currently transit is not a problem because “the quantities that pass through Poland are radically smaller: it is a few percent of what arrived at the worst moment.”
Tusk noted that a project regarding compensation and export of excess grain from Poland is also being prepared.
We have a project on how to remove the surplus of grain that is on the market using public money.
He noted that this is a project that is difficult to write down, as it is a complicated issue who is to receive the said compensation.
– I need to know who we will pay extra: or those who speculate in grain? I want this money to go to farmers, grain producers, and we have a way to ensure that public aid goes to those most at risk, not to those who have already made money on it, he said.
Talks with the Ukrainian side
As Tusk emphasized, talks with the Ukrainian side are still ongoing. By March 28, he announced that he would like to adopt common solutions with the Ukrainian side that will be safer for Polish agriculture.
We will reach an agreement with the Ukrainians within two weeks regarding the adoption of a license and the government’s consent to admit anything, and if necessary, transit will be stopped for a while.
The Prime Minister added that he would like the provisions introduced to be developed in the spirit of consensus so as not to harm our eastern neighbors in the difficult situation they find themselves in.
