Europe - and my grief for the political elite
After being invited into polemics with M. Bernard Osser and after reading his article (see WBJ No. 47, p. 11), I was wondering what idea he wanted to convey and what he actually has written. In my opinion, M. Osser wanted to deal with four major issues in his article. The first one directly concerns my trip and my speech in Strasbourg where I dared to say that if Polish membership in the European Union would be achieved by political manipulation, then Poland would leave the EU.
The second issue is that M. Osser stated in the beginning of his article that he had not met any Polish peasants - only some taxi drivers and doctors who own some land but do not cultivate it.
The third issue is that he has actually gotten to know some honest farmers, but he doesn't know how many there are.
And the last issue is that nobody knows what our agriculture is going to look like a few years after joining the EU. I have travelled a lot, and I still do around the whole country. I meet with people who come from different places, have different jobs and vary in age. Our campaign for the 2002 regional elections began at the bazaar in Ostrów Mazowiecki. It is true that I prefer to meet with people in the market places than in glamorous conference chambers specially rented for such occasions. I meet there people who are honest farmers and workers, good and reliable businessmen and tradesmen, and clients who buy cheap goods counting each groszy twice in their purses. And I also meet thieves and bums. The people there ask me thousands of straightforward or vague questions. Thus, in that case, why shouldn't I answer a few more?
I will begin answering from the end of the opinion presented by M. Osser. If Poland enters the EU, then the prices of our agricultural goods will increase by around 10%, while the prices of all the inputs used in agricultural production will increase by 40%, which in effect will cause a drop in annual incomes from around €288 per hectare before becoming a member to Ż119 per hectare after becoming a member. Only after substantial direct subsidies equivalent to 66% of what the EU farmers get would our farmers' levels of income be the same after joining the EU. As to the question stated, do the people know what their national agriculture will look like? My answer is they do.
Polish agriculture will lose the direct battle with the competition coming from the 15 member states. The reason is that after becoming a member of the EU on the terms proposed by the Danish side - 32% subsidies - the incomes of farmers will still decrease by 30%.
And coming to the third issue, M. Osser asks an interesting question: do politicians really know what our agricultural sector looks like without proper arrangements for its further development, without any chances to be an equal and threatening competitor to its neighbours? I think that many politicians don't even know the scale of the problems we are facing, and those who do simply don't want to talk about them.
But I must admit that I have to agree with M. Osser in his statement that in Poland "there are many farmers who work hard and invest every earned złoty and in front of them I pay my homage." I also agree with him on the statement that "a few months before entering the EU, they don't know on what terms they will run their farms." If such a statement would come from me, it would be looked upon with disgust and called "cheap populists' words," whereas if a foreign journalist states them, then they are regarded as "competent criticism." The judgement of this I leave to the reader.
Concerning the second issue, I think that both of us know that not only taxi drivers and doctors own land that could be cultivated, but also writers, politicians, advocates, bankers, clerks and many others. I was happy to drink wine with a French senator and mayor who also owns a beautiful and large vineyard. So I ask what does owning some land in rural areas have to do with agricultural policy? Nothing.
The real problem for our countryside is the means from which the peasants can or rather can't support themselves. The factories where they worked were additionally closed down. The chances of new work places being available are almost none; and due to the closing of Polish enterprises, hidden unemployment is now around 1.8 million.
I have a feeling that the main point of M. Osser's publication was "Lepper in Strasbourg."
So I repeat what I said over there. Poland, as the first country that stood up to fight the Nazi invasion and as the first nation which started to "dismantle" the Warsaw Pact, will be the first to leave the European Union if our accession is brought about by fraud and political manipulation.
The so-called "association process" started by Poland in 1991 has meant loss after loss for us. The Polish negotiators, who so far represent all the ruling parties, pay their liabilities by selling the national assets and lead this country to bankruptcy. They have closed down the textile, shoe, clothing and electronic industries, telecommunications, construction, automobiles, agriculture and many others. They have also suppressed all the research and development departments. All this has been done in the name of restructuring and meeting the standards of the EU. We didn't have to wait a long time for the effects: 3.5 million registered unemployed with 5.3 million hidden unemployed makes 30% unemployed out of the total population, the zł. 40 billion budget deficit and the zł. 17 billion deficit in foreign trade.
I don't feel any grief for the western politicians who have cheated Poles, but I do feel grief for our political elite since they have done nothing to prevent those frauds from taking place.
While for M. Osser, I have this little puzzle to figure out concerning the relationship between Poland and the EU: when was the SAPARD programme created and how many Polish producers have used it up to now?
Andrzej Lepper is the leader of the Samoobrona party.
The second issue is that M. Osser stated in the beginning of his article that he had not met any Polish peasants - only some taxi drivers and doctors who own some land but do not cultivate it.
The third issue is that he has actually gotten to know some honest farmers, but he doesn't know how many there are.
And the last issue is that nobody knows what our agriculture is going to look like a few years after joining the EU. I have travelled a lot, and I still do around the whole country. I meet with people who come from different places, have different jobs and vary in age. Our campaign for the 2002 regional elections began at the bazaar in Ostrów Mazowiecki. It is true that I prefer to meet with people in the market places than in glamorous conference chambers specially rented for such occasions. I meet there people who are honest farmers and workers, good and reliable businessmen and tradesmen, and clients who buy cheap goods counting each groszy twice in their purses. And I also meet thieves and bums. The people there ask me thousands of straightforward or vague questions. Thus, in that case, why shouldn't I answer a few more?
I will begin answering from the end of the opinion presented by M. Osser. If Poland enters the EU, then the prices of our agricultural goods will increase by around 10%, while the prices of all the inputs used in agricultural production will increase by 40%, which in effect will cause a drop in annual incomes from around €288 per hectare before becoming a member to Ż119 per hectare after becoming a member. Only after substantial direct subsidies equivalent to 66% of what the EU farmers get would our farmers' levels of income be the same after joining the EU. As to the question stated, do the people know what their national agriculture will look like? My answer is they do.
Polish agriculture will lose the direct battle with the competition coming from the 15 member states. The reason is that after becoming a member of the EU on the terms proposed by the Danish side - 32% subsidies - the incomes of farmers will still decrease by 30%.
And coming to the third issue, M. Osser asks an interesting question: do politicians really know what our agricultural sector looks like without proper arrangements for its further development, without any chances to be an equal and threatening competitor to its neighbours? I think that many politicians don't even know the scale of the problems we are facing, and those who do simply don't want to talk about them.
But I must admit that I have to agree with M. Osser in his statement that in Poland "there are many farmers who work hard and invest every earned złoty and in front of them I pay my homage." I also agree with him on the statement that "a few months before entering the EU, they don't know on what terms they will run their farms." If such a statement would come from me, it would be looked upon with disgust and called "cheap populists' words," whereas if a foreign journalist states them, then they are regarded as "competent criticism." The judgement of this I leave to the reader.
Concerning the second issue, I think that both of us know that not only taxi drivers and doctors own land that could be cultivated, but also writers, politicians, advocates, bankers, clerks and many others. I was happy to drink wine with a French senator and mayor who also owns a beautiful and large vineyard. So I ask what does owning some land in rural areas have to do with agricultural policy? Nothing.
The real problem for our countryside is the means from which the peasants can or rather can't support themselves. The factories where they worked were additionally closed down. The chances of new work places being available are almost none; and due to the closing of Polish enterprises, hidden unemployment is now around 1.8 million.
I have a feeling that the main point of M. Osser's publication was "Lepper in Strasbourg."
So I repeat what I said over there. Poland, as the first country that stood up to fight the Nazi invasion and as the first nation which started to "dismantle" the Warsaw Pact, will be the first to leave the European Union if our accession is brought about by fraud and political manipulation.
The so-called "association process" started by Poland in 1991 has meant loss after loss for us. The Polish negotiators, who so far represent all the ruling parties, pay their liabilities by selling the national assets and lead this country to bankruptcy. They have closed down the textile, shoe, clothing and electronic industries, telecommunications, construction, automobiles, agriculture and many others. They have also suppressed all the research and development departments. All this has been done in the name of restructuring and meeting the standards of the EU. We didn't have to wait a long time for the effects: 3.5 million registered unemployed with 5.3 million hidden unemployed makes 30% unemployed out of the total population, the zł. 40 billion budget deficit and the zł. 17 billion deficit in foreign trade.
I don't feel any grief for the western politicians who have cheated Poles, but I do feel grief for our political elite since they have done nothing to prevent those frauds from taking place.
While for M. Osser, I have this little puzzle to figure out concerning the relationship between Poland and the EU: when was the SAPARD programme created and how many Polish producers have used it up to now?
Andrzej Lepper is the leader of the Samoobrona party.
