The Social Democratic Party calls for a unified position of Romania to defend national agriculture in the negotiations regarding the future budget of the European Union for 2028 - 2034 and appeals, in this regard, to all political forces for a constructive debate, under the coordination of the country's president, agerpres reports.
"PSD calls on all political forces to defend the national interest and Romanian agriculture in relation to the European Commission Presidency's project on the European Union Budget 2028 - 2034. PSD believes that the adoption of the future European Union budget in its current form would substantially affect Romanian agriculture, and the gravity of the situation leaves no room for internal political disputes on this subject. Romania must establish a unified and firm position, which will be defended with dignity by all representatives of our country at the European level, regardless of the institutions in which they work and regardless of their political orientation or affiliation," the party said in a statement on Friday.
According to PSD, a constructive debate is required between all political forces, coordinated by the President of Romania, who has an "essential" role in the final vote in the European Council for the approval of the future EU budget.
In the opinion of the Social Democrats, our country must oppose the establishment of a common fund to ensure the financing of EU policies, including for agriculture, with the granting of funds conditional on the fulfillment of certain milestones.
"Such an approach would create major uncertainty over the financing of agriculture in Romania. Farmers could lose significant funds for purely bureaucratic reasons or due to the failure to meet milestones in other sectors of activity. The common agricultural policy must be financed separately! Food and food security cannot be conditioned! In fact, the Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, has already held discussions with his counterparts from several European states, most of whom rejected this approach in the draft future budget," PSD explained.
At the same time, Romania must oppose capping the subsidy per beneficiary, regardless of the area worked, the social democrats added.
"Such a provision would reduce the European funds available to our farmers and would lead to an artificial and inefficient division of agricultural areas. Romania has opposed every time such a capping has been attempted!," PSD mentioned.
Also, another provision that our country must oppose, according to PSD, refers to the increase in the co-financing percentage from 15% to 30%.
"Such a change would put pressure on the national budget from which the co-financing of agricultural projects should be ensured and would significantly reduce Romanian farmers' access to European funds," the social democrats also pointed out.
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