Bulgaria and Germany will cooperate in finding green practices

Bulgaria and Germany will cooperate in finding green practices. This was agreed by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Verginia Krasteva and Mr Joachim Rukwied, President of the German Farmers Association, and President of COPA on November 13.

During the meeting, Deputy Minister Krasteva stressed that the future Common Agricultural Policy focused on environmental protection.

The current green direct payments are part of the so-called conditionality for receiving direct payments, and the new eco schemes should build upon the current level. The two agreed that the new green requirements should not make it difficult for farmers in order to be attractive for implementation.

According to the EC proposal for a regulation, new environmental practices are mandatory for Member States but voluntary for farmers. She also stressed the importance of maintaining transitional national aid beyond 2020 and increasing the budget for coupled support, thus maintaining stability in support of farmers. Joachim Rukwied, for his part, emphasized that they insist on a 2-year transitional period while maintaining the same rules and schemes.

The Deputy Minister also met with Gerhard Schwätie, President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Federal State of Lower Saxony in Hannover, Germany. The two agreed on an exchange of experience in agriculture. "At the threshold of the new Common Agricultural Policy, knowledge transfer should work at a good level,” he said.

Bulgaria and Germany have many common grounds in the field of agriculture and we would borrow from you good practices by training our experts, said Deputy Minister Krasteva. Gerhard Schwätie, for his part, introduced Deputy Minister Krasteva to the structure and functions of the Agricultural Chamber and expressed readiness to work together.