Extra funds after farmers flock to European Union for pension pay-off

Polish farmers have rushed to the Agriculture Restructuring and Modernization Agency (ARiMR) to obtain structural pensions financed by the European Union. Qualifying conditions for the structural pension include giving up one's land and being more than 55 years old. "During the first two days of the program 3,945 farmers submitted their applications and around 50,000 took the forms to fill out," revealed ARiMR spokesperson Iwona Musiał. The scheme’s success surprised both the Polish authorities and the European Commission. Funds in the EU budget allocated to the structural pension scheme allow for just 100,000 farmers to take up the offer in this country. "We will ask the Commission to grant additional funding for that purpose at the expense of other programs, such as those dedicated to the protection of the environment," said Musiał. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B3) E.B.