Delay in SAPARD funding angers farmers
By : Juliet D. Golden
Poland's farmers reacted angrily last week to news of further delays in the release of European Union (EU) funding earmarked for rural Poland.
Returning from Brussels two weeks ago, Polish officials announced that long-awaited SAPARD funding would not be available until next year, due to delays in re-jigging Poland's Agriculture Restructuring Agency (ARMR) into an institution approved by the EU for the disbursement of funds.
For the food and agriculture sector, the postponement of the funding for the second year in a row spells further delays in getting rural Poland ready for entry into the EU.
"Further delays in SAPARD really harms Polish producers," said Jan Ciesielski, president of the Wielkopolska Gielda Rolno-Ogrodnicza (WGRO), a wholesale agriculture market in Poznan. "SAPARD was supposed to be the (program) that adapted production to higher standards required by the EU. Delays in funding mean delays in implementation."
Originally slated to begin in January 2000, the funding would probably not be available for farmers before early next year, officials said last week.
"It might be mid-October when the money starts to flow, but that doesn't mean that the final beneficiary will get the money directly after that," said Wladyslaw Piskorz, an adviser with Poland's representative office in Brussels.
Poland is slated to receive O171 million annually under SAPARD until 2006 or until the country becomes a full EU member. Not only are the funds supposed to help the country to modernize its agriculture sector, but they are supposed to pave the way for farmers to receive subsidies under the EU's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
Poland will have to get over a few hurdles before the EU opens the tap on SAPARD funding late this year. First, the ARMR will have to receive a positive mark from Andersen, the company responsible for providing an independent audit of the agency. Under SAPARD, ARMR will be the official institution responsible for approving projects and paying out the EU funds.
"I hope that the report will be positive and that it will be completed by the end of April," said Zbigniew Chrzanowski, deputy minister of agriculture.
The positive report card on the Andersen audit will open the door to accreditation from the Finance Ministry before a final nod of approval from the EU commission, which if all goes well could happen by autumn.
"We got information that if we present the accreditation package, the EU commission needs four to five months for confirmation," Chrzanowski said.
While SAPARD money represents only a fragment of the zl. 25 billion ($6.1 billion) the government has estimated will be needed to prepare rural Poland for joining the EU, much of the government's modernization program hinges on this assistance.
"SAPARD is very significant," Chrzanowski said. "Most importantly, we wanted to designate SAPARD funds to improve the competitiveness of Poland's food and agriculture sector."
At the wholesale market in Poznan, the absence of SAPARD money means the market will have to put off the launch of a meat market modeled after those in Holland and Belgium. "Meat producers and processors are planning on using SAPARD money to be able to join the market," Ciesielski said. "This will delay this issue and that's too bad."
News that funds won't be available for almost another year had some warning last week that farmers could go sour on joining the EU. "We have been talking about SAPARD for two years as something that is about to happen, and continued postponement is something that will discourage people about the EU," Ciesielski said. "SAPARD is needed to help convince people that joining the EU is something good for Polish agriculture."
While the government continues to make Jan. 1, 2003 the date for the country's entry into the EU, officials were at least hinting last week that postponement of the launch of SAPARD could also signal delays in Poland's accession. "It has been clearly stated that our implementation of SAPARD will be the evaluation of our readiness to become a member of the EU," said Zbigniew Chrzanowski, the deputy minister of agriculture. "The later we implement SAPARD, the later we will be able to prove that we are ready (to join UE.)"
