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Warsaw and Munich signed an unusual pact against transforming the CAP budget and the cohesion funds into a single programme managed by national governments.
Such a merger would mean reorganising over 60% of the EU budget and granting member states control over these funds, thanks to national plans.
Poland has repeatedly spoken out against such a reform, referring to the principle of subsidiarity set down in the treaty of the EU, which states that decisions should be made by an authority as close to the citizens as possible.
Bavaria, too, has consistently defended its autonomy and regional control over the cohesion fund and against a possible merger with the CAP.
In a joint declaration, the Agriculture Minister of Poland, Czesław Siekierski and his counterpart from Bavaria, Michaela Kaniber, called against this merger. Kaniber warned that the “renationalisation” of the EU budget posed “great risks.”
Cohesion and agricultural funds
Germany has long been considered a supporter of cohesion fund reforms, albeit with regional differences.
Eastern German states, which stand to benefit the most, have been vocal about radical reforms. In contrast, Bavaria, which would see significant cuts to its funding flows, has opposed altering the status quo and giving Berlin control over regional funding implementation.
With the February election approaching and CDU and its Bavarian sister party leading the polls, Germany’s stance could change.
Until now, the conservative union of the CDU/CSU has tried to include both positions.
Bavaria and Poland also converge on CAP fund allocation.
Small-scale farmers dominate both regions, and Czesław Siekierski promised to work towards noticeable changes in favour of family farms during the Polish presidency.
Eastern German agriculture ministers, however, said that small farms should not be given preferential treatment in allocating funds, in a recent document,
For instance, the document speaks out against any capping of direct payments for big farms.
The coming elections will be decisive to understand to which extent Bavaria can impose its demands within Germany.
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The post Bavaria joins Poland against regional and agricultural budget merge appeared first on Energy News Beat.
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