Integration of Polish agriculture into the EU
Poland's entry into the European Union was an unquestionable ambition of all Poles. This has been demonstrated by the result of the accession referendum and the strong voice of the majority of the population in favour of membership. The accession was preceded by a period of hard systemic, economical and political transformations, which had circumstantial social consequences. The economical transformation proved peculiarly hard for Polish farmers. Falling, inefficient state entities were slow replaced by private economical initiatives, and institutions of the agricultural environment (government agencies, agricultural advisory agencies) were only created – and this under conditions of limited public spending for agricultural policy implementation. Unstable agricultural markets have adversely influenced the relation between agricultural product prices and the prices of inputs, agricultural income has fallen, advanced unemployment has arisen, especially in agrarian areas.
In view of the above conditions, we must recognise the effort and thank all those farmers who have taken courageous action to make their farms, and thus the full sector. This effort was carried out with a view to the chance to make a leap of civilization as a natural consequence of Poland's presence in the bravest global economical project, the European Union. It was agriculture that played an crucial function in the integration process. The scale of the challenges posed by the adaptation of the national agri-food sector to the single European marketplace has raised concerns for all parties to the negotiation process. There was a legitimate hazard of postponement of the deadline for entry into the EU due to a default in agriculture, and many uncertainties arose among farmers themselves. For the EU-15, the enlargement of the Community to the countries of Central and east Europe was besides at advanced hazard of failure. Eventually, 20 years ago Poland entered the EU as its full member.
The scale of EU support and the usage of resources are clearly the most crucial drivers for the improvement of changes in agricultural holdings, agri-food manufacture and agrarian areas. Access to the funds of the common agricultural policy, both direct aid and the structural funds, has helped to accelerate the modernisation of farms.
Objective predictions confirmed the reality in which agriculture and farmers became the biggest beneficiaries of Community support. Its scale is suggestive, due to the fact that for 20 years almost EUR 80 billion has been allocated to agriculture and agrarian areas, accounting for about 1/3 of all transfers from the EU to Poland, amounting to a full of EUR 252 billion. A large part, as much as EUR 50 billion, of agricultural support from EU funds went to all farms in the form of direct subsidies. In the first pillar of the CAP, nearly EUR 2 billion were earmarked for marketplace intervention. The full expenditure for structural change in the agricultural sector and in agrarian areas (financing agrarian improvement programmes) has been €25 billion since the start of accession. The scale of support and usage of these measures are clearly the most crucial pro-development impulses for agricultural, agri-food and agrarian changes. Access to the funds of the common agricultural policy, both direct aid and the structural funds, has helped to accelerate the modernisation of farms. The food manufacture benefited from the expanding quantity and quality of home agricultural natural materials. In terms of integration with the European Union, there have been crucial changes in ownership and production structures. The improvement of the production possible took place with increasing numbers and positions of large companies. In a diverse corporate structure, micro and tiny companies exploit the possible of local markets, while large players successfully compete in the Single European Market. The food manufacture has become 1 of the most crucial sectors of the economy, and expanding processing innovation has become a driving force for agricultural development.
Improving the competitiveness of companies is besides a buffer of food prices in variable agricultural markets. In this way, the national food sector has made effective usage of the chance to access a European marketplace of nearly 450 million consumers. present the main partner of Polish trade are EU countries. We can produce well and effectively compete, as evidenced by the constantly lasting 20 years, expanding exports of agri-food products and the invariably affirmative balance of abroad exchange. During this period export value increased more than 10 times. According to the National Centre for Agriculture Support, the value of agri-food exports from Poland in 2023 reached a evidence of EUR 51.8 billion (PLN 236 billion). The results were higher by 8% compared to the erstwhile year and the share of food products in home exports was almost 15%. In comparison with 33.2 billion imports, the affirmative balance of trade was EUR 18.6 billion, which was almost 1/5 higher than in 2022. Polish agricultural and food products are inactive competitive in terms of price and quality, as evidenced by the fact that 3/4 of food exports from Poland went to the markets of the European Union countries. In the context of the challenges facing our country, the task facing food companies, in cooperation with the current state policy, will be to build strong brands of Polish agricultural products, recognisable in Europe and in the world. Our European neighbours prove that this is the key to the improvement of agribusiness, but besides an component of national identity, utilized as a model for promoting the country.
Structural changes in Polish agriculture
European integration does not culminate in restructuring and modernisation of the agri-food sector.
Systematic transformation, the preparation period for EU membership and 20 years of our presence in a united Europe have been strong impulses for structural change in agricultural holdings, but any of these challenges stay valid. To this day, agriculture has maintained its dual character. On the 1 hand there are large farms, modern and capitalised, specialised in a circumstantial direction of production. Thanks to their resources, mainly agricultural land, and advanced commodity are the main suppliers of natural materials for the agri-food industry. Their improvement builds the effective competitiveness of the national agri-food sector on the EU and planet markets. On the another hand, smaller farms, based on their own work and members of the agricultural family, are functioning in their body, oriented on the local or regional market, where agricultural income failure complements non-agricultural income sources.
The task facing food companies, with the participation of the current state policy, will be to build strong brands of Polish agricultural products, recognisable in Europe and in the world. Our European neighbours prove that this is the key to the improvement of agribusiness, but besides an component of national identity, utilized as a model for promoting the country.
Stock and production concentration processes proceed and will proceed to be visible. The land, labour and capital will flow to larger farms. A crucial consequence of the concentration processes will be the simplification in the number of farms and the increase in the average size of those remaining. On the another hand, marketplace production will gradually shift to larger companies.
From the point of view of the Ministry of Agriculture and agrarian Development, the challenges behind these phenomena concern not only the economical but above all the social sphere. National action taken and implementation of the common agricultural policy tasks are aimed at creating opportunities for both large and tiny farms. Therefore, policies for large farms are accompanied by equally strong measures for tiny farms managed by young farmers, frequently seeking to exploit the possible of their farms outside the agricultural sector, frequently in areas with peculiar environmental sensitivity.
Rational implementation of Green Dealing rules
Whether we adopt the possible of tiny or large farms, today's turning point is their ability to face social expectations of European agriculture as such. First and foremost, agricultural activities include environmental and climate issues, biodiversity, animal welfare, agricultural land concerns, food quality. any of the elements identified included a draft of the European Green Deal (GEA) in 2 strategies aimed at agriculture. It turned out that the success of this ambitious task would be conditional on the rationality of the requirements, while accepting them by farmers. Balancing so requires a scope of regulations that should be implemented so that the costs incurred by agricultural producers can be effectively refinanced by the appropriate actions of the common agricultural policy. The pandemic crisis, and now Russia's invasion of Ukraine, do not service deep reforms and force revision and modification of the EZŁ. any assumptions request to be corrected or even withdrawn from the most controversial actions. The changes proposed by Poland and adopted by the European Commission in the Green Łada respond to the demands made by farmers at protests and will most likely facilitate the planning of agricultural activities without reducing production and income. We must bear in head that farmers' protests had their source, among others, in the deteriorating profitability of production.
Some assumptions request to be corrected or even withdrawn from the most controversial Green Deal activities. They should be balanced so that the costs incurred by agricultural producers can be effectively refinanced by the appropriate actions of the common agricultural policy.
The next step is to simplify the CAP and reduce the administrative burden on farmers. The fresh solutions adopted in the alleged first pillar in the form of enhanced conditionality and ecoschemats must not be an obstacle to farmers' activity but an effective form of support. If we are to proceed voluntary practices within ecoschemats, it is essential to revise the measures adopted in Poland in 2023, to prepare farmers for effective application for funds, including improving the work of agricultural advisory. The agricultural sector must not stay out of the way for environmental protection as it is crucial for climate and biodiversity. The essential transformations are intended primarily to strengthen the resilience and viability of agriculture in the future. Further omissions will only strengthen the negative effects of climate change, specified as fast weather phenomena, water depletion, dirt degradation and environmental biodiversity reduction. A joint debate on how to finance agricultural climate and environmental transformation at European level must be held wisely for and with farmers. The downgrading of the issue of appropriate and unchangeable income levels and the right position of farmers in the food chain will aggravate the problem of the attractiveness of agricultural work and the exchange of generations.
Opening the EU to Ukrainian agricultural products
The turning point of the current agricultural policy is the ongoing war in Ukraine. Agriculture has the effect of breaching economical governance, including energy security, breaking supply chains and demolishing existing trade routes. Following the start of the conflict, the EU launched economical aid for the fighting Ukraine. In the absence of rules and regulations, there was an uncontrolled influx of products from Ukraine to Poland, among others. This has led to marketplace volatility and the failure of our producers. In reasoning of the possible membership of Ukraine in the European Union, this was a foretaste of the challenges facing EU agriculture, especially Polish, due to geographical proximity. For the moment, this is simply a distant prospect, as the process of adapting Ukrainian agricultural production to European standards will gotta take place in parallel with the economical and political reconstruction of the country. Nevertheless, it is now essential to make common and sustainable marketplace and trade solutions between Ukraine and the European Union. The degree of support and the size and distribution of the future CAP budget for the enlarged Community request to be defined.
The agricultural sector must not stay out of the way for environmental protection as it is crucial for climate and biodiversity. A joint debate on how to finance agricultural climate and environmental transformation at European level must be held wisely for and with farmers.
Cooperation and dialog with farmers
There has already been a turning point in national agricultural policy. It is an open dialog between Polish authorities and farmers. In a rapidly changing world, knowing the current problems requires the Ministry of Agriculture to talk straight with agricultural producers, their trade union representatives and agricultural organisations. Although these are not easy conversations, we require each another and realize full openness and readiness to discuss, contention, exchange views for a common search for solutions. We want to decision distant from making decisions in isolation from farmers' needs, politicians should be close to them. We rebuild relations, knowing that if the voice of farmers is heard and taken into account in the Ministry of Agriculture and agrarian Development, it will besides be the basis for the strong voice of our country on the European stage. We are certain that this will happen due to the fact that Poland is preparing to take up the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union in six months. It is simply a good chance for the European agenda to include crucial issues from the position of our country.
We want the ecological and climatic transformation not to obscure the request to supply farmers with unchangeable sources of income from agricultural activities and EU food safety to citizens. Implementation of the objectives of the European Green Deal must be rational and socially acceptable.
Key issues for the Polish Presidency
The Presidency offers an incredible chance for Poland to propose coherent expectations of the associate States towards the form of the CAP after 2027. We want the ecological and climatic transformation not to obscure the request to supply farmers with unchangeable sources of income from farming and food safety for EU citizens. Implementation of the objectives of the European Green Deal must be rational and socially acceptable. Polish experience of the influx of agricultural goods from Ukraine entitles us to hold a debate during the Presidency on the rules of global trade in agricultural goods. The situation requires rules to be laid down for the protection of the EU's agricultural markets and the compliance of imported goods with EU agricultural production standards and requirements. Bearing in head the interest of farmers, the Polish Presidency will besides stress the improvement of innovation and digitalisation in agriculture, with an crucial function in investigation and advice in this area. Work on animal welfare rules will proceed so as not to block the improvement of animal production and, by harmonising practices in associate States (e.g. animal protection during transport) warrant a level playing field.
Summary
Looking forward, we request to ask a fewer questions about Polish and EU agriculture after 2027. The model of the household farm adopted in Europe must face the increasingly socially-responsibility of the economy in relation to climate and environmental challenges. 3 leading aspects of agricultural production request to be confronted: food security, natural welfare and ensuring the economical viability and competitiveness of farms on the global market. Universal access to food is simply a question not only of the quantity of products, but besides of their appropriate quality and affordability. The welfare of rich countries is comparatively inexpensive food, but this must not be at the expense of declining agricultural income. If Antonio Decaro, the recently elected president of the Committee on the Environment, Public wellness and Food Safety in the European Parliament, ensures that the EU does not retreat from the adopted regulation and continues to implement the European Green Deal, it requires that further modifications to the agricultural part be made in what direction. This is likely to affect the future common agricultural policy. It is worth mentioning that this is not the only challenge facing her. What should the enlargement of the EU be like against this background, including Ukraine in particular? How will this change the CAP in the next programming period? These questions are very clear in Poland today, as we are among the largest beneficiaries of the CAP. The form of the policy and the amount of transfers will find the continuation of changes in Polish agriculture. This is mainly about structural change in the essential processes of concentrating agrarian fragmentation. The EU policy will find the scale of opportunities for tiny farms to make activities and the essential backing for the implementation of modern technologies (including digital ones) for large farms. The right approach will enable agriculture to operate on a different scale and profile, in line with environmental expectations and in consequence to social expectations.
The form of policies and the level of transfers under the CAP will find the continuation of changes in the Polish agri-food sector. The right approach will enable agriculture to operate on a different scale and profile, in line with environmental expectations and in consequence to social expectations.
