A-Z of EU membership harmonization: A for agriculture

After Poland's accession to the EU a limit will be imposed on the production of key agricultural products (milk, grain, sugar, tobacco, potato starch, izoglucose) as well as the number of cattle reared. To compensate, farmers will be granted direct subsidies supporting their production and, with each year, this amount will increase (starting from 45% in 2004) to reach the EU level by 2013 at the latest. The government claims that some of the limits (for example a limit on milk) will freeze production at the current, relatively low, level. The change of the limits in the EU will probably take place in 2008. The government was not in a position to construct an EU system of production control (IACS) and so, until 2009, Poland will have to comply with a simplified system of direct subsidy division - depending on the size of a farm not on the real production. A.Z.