EU talks over ag sector begin
Polish and EU diplomats converged on Luxembourg last week and formally launched long anticipated negotiations on what is widely considered the most difficult haggling point in the country's bid to join the European Union (EU) agriculture.
Not only does the ag sector lag sorely behind those in current EU-member countries, but with 40% of all EU legislation concerning agricultural and rural issues, it also means Poland's greatest challenge will be to adapt its laws in these areas to meet union requirements.
"The hour of truth has arrived," said Wladyslaw Piskorz, an adviser at the Polish representation office in Brussels.
The heart of Poland's negotiation stance is its bid to earn Polish farmers a place in the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In a prelude to the negotiations, late last year the government pledged it would fork out zl. 25 billion ($5.7 billion) over a three-year period to bring the ag sector in line with EU norms. Now Poland wants its farmers to qualify for upward of E3 billion a year in EU funds subsidizing ag sector production after its joins the union.
"As long as there's a common agricultural policy, these subsidies are a way of evening out the competitiveness," Piskorz said.
While Poles are standing firm in their position on CAP subsidies, the EU is already making it clear that chances are small that the country's farmers will receive any payments before 2007. In the 2000-2006 budget passed last year in Berlin, the EU made no allowances for direct payments to Polish farmers during that period. While the EU may be willing to accept Poland as a member earlier than 2007, budging on the issue of subsidies means doing so at the cost of farmers in France, England and Spain.
"The EU has pointed out that it has already made decisions about the financing of agriculture in Berlin and that it doesn't have much room to maneuver," Piskorz said.
Similarly, Poland wants the EU to agree to step in and undertake emergency measures that would help local producers if particular Polish agriculture products became threatened by an onslaught of cheap EU imports. Austria, Finland and Sweden all won similar concessions from the EU at the negotiation table. While such protective measures have rarely been implemented on behalf of these three countries, Piskorz said, Polish negotiators are eager to win the concession so that farmers will feel that they have a life raft when borders and trade barriers disappear upon accession.
"There is a psychological element to all of this," Piskorz said. "It's important to show Polish farmers that if a tragedy happens, there is a way out."
But EU negotiators appear unwilling to budge on this point, he said.
For its part, the EU is pushing Poland to enforce strict production limits on a wide range of products. The EU currently regulates agricultural production to keep prices stable.
While Poland also controls the production of certain commodities such as sugar, it is hesitant to accept limits imposed by the EU if it's not included in CAP. Under CAP, European farmers receive direct compensation payments in exchange for restricting the production of particular agriculture products.
"We assume that compliance with (production) limits is a part of CAP," Piskorz said. "Even (Franz) Fischler has said that in the absence of subsidies it will be difficult to force farmers from Central Europe to reduce production and adhere to limits." Fischler is the European agriculture commissioner.
In addition, at a time when Poland's ag sector is just beginning to undergo a process of fundamental restructuring, negotiators are hesitant to accept limits based on current production levels for fear that such constraints will halt rapid development of the sector in the future.
"If we accept these limits, we essentially freeze production intensity at the current level for many years to come," Piskorz said.
Also, due to growing consumption levels, Poland wants to ensure that its farmers have a chance to meet local demand themselves rather than forfeiting that potential to importers from Western Europe, he said.
The EU also expects Poland to fully comply with all the rules related to monitoring and controlling agriculture production by the time it is accepted as a full member. For Poland, this means the implementation of a complex registration and surveillance system that is expected to cost the country E80 million. Not only is Poland pushing the EU to foot half the bill, it also wants the EU to grant a grace period of three years following Poland's entry date to have the program fully up and running.
Agriculture is the last of 29 subject areas comprising the EU accession process to be opened for talks. To date, discussions have been completed in 11 areas, while 18 remain in negotiation.
With negotiations now formally open, EU officials will spend much of the summer scouring over the fine points of the country's opening stance and requesting clarification on specific points outlined in the position, Piskorz said. According to Piskorz, the real tug-of-war at the negotiation table probably won't start until autumn. Regardless of when they begin, both sides aren't looking for the talks to come to any rapid conclusion.
"There are so many issues to address related to agriculture," Piskorz said. "One should expect that (final) decisions will be made the last night of negotiations for the entire (accession) package."
