Stuttgart/Brussels (dpa/lsw) - Baden-Württemberg's Agriculture Minister Peter Hauk welcomes the fact that environmental regulations for farmers are to be relaxed in the EU in view of rising food prices and the threat of bottlenecks. "This is an important signal that the EU is reacting to the current situation on the world grain markets in order to curb the threat of further hunger crises," said the CDU politician on Saturday. "In view of the looming hunger crises, farmers' skills in food security are needed more than ever." The EU Commission proposed on Friday to grant exceptions for so-called crop rotation rules and set-aside of arable land for one year.
With the reform of the EU agricultural policy, which should take effect from 2023, environmental standards for agriculture were actually expanded. It contains specifications that farmers should not plant the same crops year after year in order to protect the soil. In addition, four percent of the arable land should no longer be cultivated in order to counteract the extinction of species with fallow areas or flower strips. Since the Ukraine war there have been calls to relax environmental protection in order to produce more grain.
"Protecting the climate and biodiversity must go hand in hand with food security," said Hauk. "The war in Ukraine requires that the issue of food security be given even greater focus." The decision of the EU Commission is overdue and correct. Farmers now have planning security for the coming year. "We all have an overall responsibility when it comes to fighting hunger in the world and thus avoiding an immense humanitarian catastrophe."
