Meeting at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland

During his visit to Paris, Deputy Minister Jacek Czerniak met with the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Paris Wiesław Tarka. During the conversation, the Deputy Minister stressed that for both Poland and France agriculture was a strategic sector and both countries showed a significant convergence of interests and the will to protect European producers.

– Poland and France are working together not only on the issue of opposing the EU-Mercosur agreement, but also the steps taken to reduce the inflow of food from third countries that does not meet EU standards – emphasised Secretary of State Jacek Czerniak.

Meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture

The major point of the visit was the debate of the Polish-French Joint Committee on Agriculture, whose activities implement the provisions of the Treaty on enhanced cooperation and friendship between Poland and France. During the meeting, the French delegation was chaired by the Deputy Director General for Corporate Economic and Environmental Performance at the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Serge Lhermitte.

Deputy Minister Czerniak reminded that Poland advocated maintaining a flexible and strong Common Agricultural Policy with an appropriate budget.

– Food security should be treated as one of the pillars of European security and the Member States must be able to design support instruments adapted to national circumstances – said the Deputy Minister. He also pointed to the threats to the competitiveness of the EU agricultural sector, resulting from different production standards applicable outside the European Union.

In addition, the experts from the Ministries of Agriculture of Poland and France exchanged views on the CAP post-2027, including on young and active farmers, the targeting of direct support, green architecture, the reform of the Common Market Organisation and the impact of trade agreements with third countries – in particular, with the Mercosur countries and Ukraine – on the EU agricultural sector. France supported Poland’s demand for the European Commission to prepare an analysis of the cumulative impact of the preferences granted by the EU in access to the Community market.

– The principles of reciprocity should be consistently enforced and analyses of the cumulative impact of granted trade preferences on the markets of the Member States should be prepared – stressed Secretary of State Jacek Czerniak.

Bilateral cooperation

During the meeting, the Committee also discussed the development of bilateral relations, including cooperation between agricultural schools and research institutes. The Deputy Minister assured that Poland wanted to continue a dynamic institutional dialogue at many levels.