The delegation of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament met on Thursday with representatives in the Croatian Parliament, the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture of the Croatian Parliament Tomislav Panenić, and the Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić. The topic of the meeting was the future of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, the issue of unfair trading practices in the food supply chain, and the establishment of short supply chains, the Ministry of Agriculture announced.
Minister Tomislav Tolušić informed MEPs about the solutions to the problem of unfair trading practices that the Ministry of Agriculture has prepared within the framework of the law on the prohibition of unfair trading practices in the food supply chain, which will be discussed in the Parliament in the coming days. He outlined the need to introduce a system of short supply chains in the public procurement process throughout the EU to protect the entire European agricultural production and stabilize the market for agricultural products in the internal market.
He paid special attention to informing MEPs about the consequences of natural disasters that have caused several billion kuna in damage to agricultural land this year alone, disrupted production potential, and led to a shortage of raw materials in the market, which will result in an increase in food prices for the end consumer, the statement said.
“This visit is a good opportunity to communicate the specific situations we encounter daily in the field, which do not come to light when we discuss agriculture in Brussels. I believe this visit will strengthen our position as a prospective agricultural country in the European Union and that through cooperation we will arrive at the most favorable solutions for our producers when we talk about the new programming period of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy,” said Minister Tomislav Tolušić after the meeting in the Croatian Parliament, adding that “EU agricultural policy needs to be simplified, as well as the system of direct payments, and priority should be given to specific sectors in each country and to small and young farmers.”
Croatian MEP Marijana Petir gave a brief presentation of Croatia’s efforts to ensure that the specificities of domestic agricultural production are taken into account within the framework of the EU’s common legislation and that special attention is paid to the applicability of regulations to all member states equally.
The delegation of the European Parliament Committee, led by the Chairman Mr. Czeslaw Siekierski, is on a working visit to Croatia from September 19 to 21 at the invitation of Marijana Petir.
After meeting with Croatian milk and pork producers on Wednesday, the delegation of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament met on the second day of the visit with Croatian producers of organic agricultural products, young farmers, and wine producers, the representative’s office announced.
