Bulgarian minister calls for flexibility, equality in EU agricultural sector

Bulgarian Agricultural Minister Desislava Taneva here on Thursday urged the European Union (EU) to introduce more flexible agricultural policies and ensure the equal treatment of farmers.

At a conference jointly organized by her ministry and the World Bank, she said that for Bulgaria, the agriculture sector was extremely important because it provided employment for more than seven percent of the country's population, and significantly contributed to national gross value added.

However, to regain its position in the national economy, Bulgarian agriculture needs to become competitive and have equal rights in the EU market, Taneva said.

"To achieve this, we must always insist on the adaptability of European policies on national problems of each country, because otherwise the EU funds would be spent inefficiently," she said.

Taneva said the EU's common agricultural policy for 2014-2020 was indeed better and more flexible than the previous one, but still didn't meet the needs of Bulgarian agriculture.

Taneva also drew attention to other member states being better able to support some sectors than other member states. "This support is practically unlimited, and places the EU members in different positions because the capabilities of their national budgets are different," she said.

European rules on state aid should define the size, scope and sectors, Taneva added.

Last March, then-Minister of Agriculture and Food, Dimitar Grekov, said that from 2014 to 2020, his country would receive 15 billion BGN (8.7 billion U.S. dollars) in EU funds for agriculture.

This money would be a major source not only for the development of the agricultural sector in the country, but also for its modernization and competitiveness in the market economy, Grekov said. Endit