First published in Deník N.
The European Commission is preparing new rules for agricultural subsidies that would significantly affect the Czech Agrofert holding, which prime minister Andrej Babiš transferred to a trust fund at the end of February. And it is precisely he who could co-decide on their final form at European level.
Babiš’s role in the upcoming EU negotiations on the setting of the common agricultural policy will be important. The Czech position, led by minister of agriculture, Martin Šebestyán, has so far favoured agricultural giants.
But it is the subsidy support for large companies that the EU commission now wants to end. It believes that the biggest players on the market can do without it and wants to channel public funds into supporting generational renewal among farmers and strengthening their resilience to crises.
For the next seven-year budgetary period, Brussels is proposing to cut direct payments that the EU pays out based on the size of the farmed area. The larger the overall package of such subsidies received by one applicant, the greater the reduction should be.
