At the Ministry of Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, the European Commissioner for Agriculture (EU Commissioner for Agriculture), and Minister Kazys Starkevičius met with representatives of the Lithuanian farming community. They discussed cooperation, generational change, financing of the agricultural sector and other topical issues.

„Congratulations to the farmers' representatives, we have met at least three times, if I remember correctly. I want to thank you because you are the most active farmers' organisations in Brussels. I do not see such a high level of activity of farmers' organisations in all countries. But we have always had constructive discussions with you, and this has led to success in implementing the regulations. Thank you for your cooperation, your voice has been heard during my term of office and I hope it will be heard in the future. It seems to me that the success of Lithuanian farmers in recent years has been evident," said the EU Commissioner for Agriculture.

Commissioner Wojciechowski did not hide his concern about the future if no decision is taken to increase the CAP budget. If this does not happen, the situation will be difficult, he said.

„We should fight for a bigger budget, Minister Starkevičius is actively working on this issue, and I hope that the new government will do the same“," said the Commissioner, who also stressed the importance of the harmonisation of direct payments.

He invited farmers' representatives to express their views on the future of agriculture and share their insights. The meeting also highlighted the situation of young farmers and the problem of generational change in the countryside.

„We see that young people are facing many challenges and we have lost three million farms in the EU in a decade. The problem is that often young people do not want to continue the tradition of family farming. Even in the Netherlands, where agriculture is well developed, many farms have also been lost, which shows that the problem is everywhere. I believe that farmers need to be given security, because they can lose everything because of crises, political reasons, price falls, the climate. We need to reduce those risks in the future. I would also like to mention solidarity, and the system should allow a rapid response to crisis situations. We also need to raise the issue of the quality of life in the countryside, the accessibility of services. Exclusion is a huge problem. I am against the CAP being used to build roads, this should come from the Cohesion Funds," said the Commissioner.

The consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine for the EU's agricultural sector and the challenges this poses were also discussed.

„We need to support Ukraine to return its exports to its former markets in Africa and Asia. Ukraine has great potential for cereal production, but the livestock sector is different. However, the main problem now is – competition in grain“," said the Commissioner, who stressed that there is room for constructive cooperation to protect its markets.

„Stability, continuity of agricultural policy and the participation of farmers are very important. The administrative procedures, rules and other issues that go to Brussels should first be discussed and debated here at home. Once again, I thank the Commissioner for his goodwill in helping us to agree the changes to the Strategic Plan quite quickly. 80% of those changes were accepted in Brussels," said K. Starkevičius, Acting Minister of Agriculture. In the future, he will also need to coordinate farmers' initiatives and proposals to Brussels politicians when working in the Seimas Committees on Rural Affairs and European Affairs.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski completes his term of office this month. The new Agriculture Commissioner, Christophe Hansen from Luxembourg, will take office in December.