Bulgaria and 6 other countries seek equalisation of subsidies for farmers

Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia call on the European Commission to equalise agricultural subsidies across the EU. The seven countries that later joined the Community have for years received lower direct payments from the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget than countries in Western Europe. The reason for this is lower production costs in the past, which, according to the seven countries, are no longer a reality for their farmers today, while high standards and requirements under the CAP are the same for all farmers in the EU.

The seven countries have calculated that in 2027 their farmers will still receive only around 80% of the EU average level of direct payments. They say there is no justification for treating farmers differently in the EU internal market. In this respect, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia stress the need for full external convergence of direct payments. They call on the Commission to take this into account in the next CAP budget.