Dejan Zidan, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia, paid an official visit to Warsaw today at the invitation of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Marek Sawicki.
This was a very important meeting which regarded the future of the Common Agricultural Policy past 2013, said Minister Sawicki at a joint press conference after the bilateral talks.
We agree on fundamental matters, that is, on maintaining the budget of the future CAP at least at its current level, on preserving both pillars of this policy and on the question of settling the historical issues, underlined the head of the Polish ministry in charge of agriculture.
The two participants in the talks share the view on the causes of distortions in the entire food chain. They highlighted the fact that processors and farmers are helpless against network retailers. This phenomenon is observed in the entire European Union and the Ministers believe that it should be considered at this level. It is proposed that the same approach is used as was adopted in the case of banking and financial sectors after the recent crisis. The ministers unanimously estimate that the European Union has not developed sufficient instruments that would prevent the distortions of the market caused by speculations and climate change.
Minister Zidan presented to the Polish Minister the recently adopted position of the Slovenian Government concerning the future of the Common Agricultural Policy past 2013. The today’s guest of Minister Sawicki expressed his opinion that food production was of strategic importance and for this reason should not be entirely subjected to market regulations alone. Minister Zidan also declared that his country would become more actively involved in the work of the Visegrad Group.
During the talks, further cooperation between the ministries was agreed upon. The Slovenians, who have already assumed the Presidency, will present us with their experiences and comments in this area. In exchange, the inspectorates reporting to the ministry competent for agriculture will describe their experiences.