Today in Strasbourg, during the ongoing plenary session of the European Parliament, a debate took place regarding the action plan for the future of agriculture and food in the EU, presented by the European Commission on February 19. During the discussion, which included EU Agriculture Commissioner Christoph Hansen, PiS MEP Waldemar Buda took the floor.
The PiS MEP referred to an announcement made a month ago by President Ursula von der Leyen that the Common Agricultural Policy would be abolished and merged with other programs. He said that this, along with the ongoing negotiations on the Mercosur agreement, demonstrate a clear trend toward cutting funding for agriculture. “I would have expected the Commissioner for Agriculture to address three issues today: that he is against the Mercosur agreement, that he supports maintaining the Common Agricultural Policy, and that he supports maintaining or increasing funding for this purpose,” said the Polish politician, noting that no assurances had been given on any of these issues. “Do you want to be the gravedigger of agriculture? Or would you rather be remembered as someone who developed European agriculture?” Buda asked the Luxembourg politician.
In this context, he recalled that the previous commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski, fought for agriculture despite criticism “from all sides.” “We would like to see a similar attitude from you, so that you will be well remembered in the history of not only Polish but also European agriculture,” appealed the PiS MEP. In the politician’s view, the upcoming financial framework will mean “the decline of European agriculture.” “What have we achieved in the European Union? Industry is buried. Competitiveness is buried. Only agriculture remains. And we are well on our way to eliminating agriculture as well,” stated Waldemar Buda.
