Athens 18 November 2021

Greek MPs participate in Inter-Parliamentary Meeting of European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI)

The drafting by the member states of the National Strategic Plans for the Common Agricultural Policy was the subject of today’s Inter-Parliamentary Meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, with the participation of MPs from national Parliaments, which took place via teleconference. The Hellenic Parliament was represented by MPs and members of the Standing Committee on Production and Trade Foteini Arabatzi and Stavros Arachovitis.

Mrs Arabatzi, after referring to the bold policy choices of the Greek government for the protection of the environment, such as the lignite phase-out, stressed, that even though in Greece the dominant forms of agriculture and livestock farming have a relatively small environmental footprint compared to the “industrialised” forms of agricultural activity of other European countries, it is a given that the green transition has a temporary high cost, which is neither fair nor reasonable to be borne by producers, especially small and medium-sized, not by consumers. The solution, she argued, that can be provided through the National

Strategic Plans, in on the one hand the use of technology and on the other hand the extension of good practices already applied by many farmers to reduce production costs and move towards environmentally friendly farming practices that are socially and economically efficient. Lastly, she emphasised the need to ensure that food imported into the EU will adhere to the same strict safety standards as the domestically produced. 

For his part, Mr Arachovitis referred to the threefold challenge faced by farmers (climate change, energy crisis, Covid-19 pandemic) and praised the fact that the National Strategic Plans provide a degree of flexibility to member states to meet the challenges, but sounded the alarm regarding the increased conditionality that could lead to a reduction in subsidies. Finally, he expressed his concern about the narrow time frame for the submission of the Plans and suggested more room for further dialogue after the Plan has been submitted, to make any necessary changes and ensure effectiveness.

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