Rotfeld says Poland is ready to cut agricultural spending

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 23/06/05

Poland could be open to calls from the UK and Sweden to cut EU agricultural spending, but proposals would first need to be clarified, the country's foreign minister has said.

Speaking in the wake of last week's EU summit which collapsed with Britain demanding a cut in farm spending, Adam Daniel Rotfeld signalled on Wednesday (22 June) that Poland was ready to see a reduction of its expected farm subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). But he stopped short of backing UK proposals to slash the CAP outright.

"I need to know what they have in mind. I was told that they [the proposals] will not be to the detriment of countries like Poland," he said. "To what extent it is only an intention to neutralise [us] and say 'don't worry we are not addressing this to you but we have some other partners to whom we are addressing' is unknown to me."

He said that retaining structural funds, financing poorer regions, was more important for Poland than farm spending.

"Our agriculture should be supported for a very limited time in order to make it competitive. In my view it is already competitive, but in order to be more competitive, with British, French or Danish agriculture there is a need not to help in the form of direct financing for the peasant, but first of all infrastructure...I am thinking of roads and highways."

Rotfeld rejected any idea that Poland might choose sides in the battle over the direction of the EU that surfaced at last week's European Council.

"My intention as a minister from the very beginning was not to construct the European policy in opposition to the United States...with France and Germany against somebody or with the UK against France and Germany. Our intention was to try and find something in common. It seems to me that this is the only responsible way to develop a reasonable policy for such a country as Poland."

He criticised those who view the EU as little more that a trading bloc.

"It is definitely wrong to consider that the European Union is only an enlarged common market, it is a common market too, but not only a common market. In fact from the Polish point of view, the Common Foreign and Security Policy is at least as important as the common market," he said.

Poland's Foreign Minister, Adam Daniel Rotfeld, said on 22 June 2005 that his country was ready to consider a reduction in its agricultural subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy, but he stopped short of agreeing with UK proposals to cut the subsidies altogether.