Slovak food chamber urges equal agricultural subsidies in EU

Slovakia's Food Chamber (PKS) on Monday called for equal agricultural subsidies in the Euroepan Union (EU). The PKS called on the government to present its position on the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and apply maximum effort in order to force Brussels to keep the promises regarding agriculture that it made when Slovakia was joining the EU in 2004. "Will we have the chance to produce food more cheaply? Will discrimination against our farmers end? Will they finally receive the same level of subsidies as the French? These issues will be debated today at a session of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in Brussels. Regrettably, Slovakia has no MEP in the committee," said PKS director Jarmila Halgasova. Halgasova pointed out that agricultural companies in western Europe receive 40 percent higher subsidies than their Slovak counterparts, saying this imbalance should have ended in 2013. France, which receives 40 percent of all agricultural subsidies in the EU, is unwilling to give up its funding and has proposed prolonging the dual system until 2028. This would annihilate Slovakia's agriculture and food industry, however, said Halgasova. "The current unequal subsidy policy has resulted in the ruin of Slovak farmers and food producers; we've lost a significant part of this sphere. If we don't want to destroy agriculture and food production in Slovakia completely, we can't allow such an unfair approach to continue," said Halgasova.