Lithuania warned the EU that officials have created dozens of requirements that Europe does not ask for.

This was discussed on the Delfi Tema program.

For example, the analysis shows that we have around 50 requirements for organic farms that are not available in other parts of the EU.

“Organic farming is not the only area where we are developing additional requirements. This is legitimate because EU law does not prevent member states from tightening their legislation. It is up to the state to see if this path reduces its competitiveness, ”explains Bronis Rope, a member of the European Parliament, who said that the EP had taken the initiative three years ago to explain why this area was not being developed individually. countries.

It turned out, for example, that in Lithuania, unlike other countries, it is not possible to create mixed farms, some of which are traditional and others ecological. Only one or the other is possible with us. Going green on an entire farm requires a lot of investment and no one knows what support it will be. In addition, a mixed farm reduces the risk.

“These events have led to the adoption of a new regulation across the EU to harmonize agricultural conditions across Europe. Another objective is to boost the processing and sales of these products. Also, to the extent that I have had contact with farmers and processors, they would like the general regulation to apply. On the contrary, the government wants to be able to regulate the procedure more, although it is often said that the EU requires one or the other commitment, although it is a local initiative “, explains B. Rope.

It also gives an example of what this looks like in practice. The provisional regulation 2021-2027 provided that a Member State would allow a transitional period of five years for organic farming, but Lithuania opted for a shorter period of three years and, at the same time, the support to farmers was reduced. Another example is the so-called Recovery Fund, which foresees 37% of the funds would go to measures against climate change, but we have not allocated anything, although organic farming is ideal. This encourages people to withdraw from this area.

Saulius Daniulis, director of the Lithuanian Association of Organic Farms, says that we have simply confused the regulation of organic farms with so-called private standards, such as biodynamic agriculture, whose certification and regulation is much stricter, and our rules exceed even these standards. Initiative from outside the EU.

“All countries can adjust the requirements and we have done that and we have created a benchmark to know when a farmer can cut, how many weeds should be in the field and our officials are adjusting these requirements all the time because they want to justify their work. If you adopt the rules under EU regulation, it should not change for at least 5-7 years, but then the individual departments of the Ministry of Agriculture will have nothing to do. Now we have rules that change several times a year and farmers no longer know how to follow them. It would be easier for everyone to abolish it, “says S. Daniulis angrily.

Mr. Rope says that he has tried to explain how to change the order in one area or another so that there are as few interruptions as possible to simply work and sell products. The MP gives an example: Until recently, Lithuania required that organic products contain no pesticide residues, although it has been impossible to avoid them for decades working the land. Minimum EU balances are allowed and we have been deprived of certificates and benefits for this.

S. Daniulis says that the requirement not to punish pesticide residues took two years. Also, what might the restrictions be if we have 7 percent? organic farming, and the EU requires 25% However, there are no more funds to help people enter this area. This is an area of ​​support across Europe.

The head of the association also calculates how expensive farming is if you have to meet some requirements that apply only to us.

“For example, crop rotation requirements have been in place until recently. Every five years, the area of ​​the organic farm must be seeded with clover to restore the soil. For this, the farm receives a payment of 59 euros / ha. Meanwhile, a chemical farm treats clover as a crop, keeps it for 8 weeks and receives a payment of 130 euros. This means that organic farms can only harvest every five years. There was simply a lack of money and officials reduced the payments of so informally “, calculates S. Daniulis and says that there are lists of sustained crops that are difficult to understand, how many to harvest, they are simply charges invented by officials so they can express themselves.

“Now it has happened that we have come to this area, we have made commitments, we cannot go back. And the State, meanwhile, suddenly declares that it cannot fulfill its obligations because it does not have the money and is constantly creating new rules, which did not exist when it started its activities and which radically change agriculture itself ”, S. Daniulis is outraged .