Closing the national and provincial roads and, in the second phase, landing in Athens with their tractors, the farmers decided during today’s nationwide meeting in Nice, declaring that they are determined to escalate their mobilizations from tomorrow in order to pressure the government to proceed with new support measures. For its part, the government keeps the dialogue window open with the farmers, declaring however that the exclusions of the nationals will not benefit anyone.

Farmers from all over Greece say they are determined to toughen their stance with new blockades of national roads from tomorrow, Wednesday. As reported in the main SKAI news bulletin, the journalist Panos Garoufalias, the farmers who are in the Platykambo of Larissa they agreed tomorrow at 17:00 blockades in Platykambos (PATHE), Karditsa (E 65) and Stefanovikio (old national road Larissa-Volou) as well as customs for large vehicles importing food.

Alongside, declare that they are determined to descend on Athens from next week after first giving the government time until Friday to have discussions with the government.

They also take a tough stance the farmers in Nea Moudania who continued today shortly after 6 o’clock in the symbolic blocking of the national highway Thessaloniki – Nea Moudania, at the junction of Portaria. On their side were the beekeepers, who all together kept the national road closed for two hours, declaring that they were determined to intensify their mobilizations from tomorrow. According to SKAI journalist, Christos Nikolaidis the atmosphere is warm and competitive and tomorrow they are expected to close the nationals, while in the second phase they are also determined to go down to Athens with their tractors.

They remain on the road for one more night and the farmers in Aigio who according to the reporter Christos Stratoulakos are preparing to set up three new blocks tomorrow. Specifically, it is expected to close Patras – Pyrgos farmers who had not taken to the streets until today, Patras – Tripoli, while they also want the closure of Patras-Athens with the ultimate goal of getting the tractors into the center of Patras by Friday more massively.

However, for the farmers of Aigio, they declare that their tractors are aimed at Athens.

Government: Open roads are a prerequisite

For its part, the government responded to all the demands of the farmers as they were formulated after the pan-Hellenic meeting in Nice and declares in favor of dialogue to find the best possible solution. A basic condition, however, as he says, is open roads since the country cannot be cut in two.

At the same time, government sources point out the need to have a single thermal body to represent the farmers so that they can sit at the table with the prime minister. However, the government declares that there are no budgetary margins so that there are new support measures for farmers, but they leave a window open to give the return of excise tax on oil earlier and not at the end of the year.

The government’s requests and response

Regarding the requests announced by the Coordinating Committee of the representatives of the blocs in Nice, Larissa, the government staff responds:

– Tax-free agricultural oil: Already the Prime Minister from the floor of the Parliament announced last Friday the return of the Special Consumption Tax on agricultural oil also for 2024, a measure of 82 million euros. The EFK refund measure was activated by the government for the years 2022 and 2023 as well. For these two years, around €160 million have been refunded to 297,000 farmers by main occupation.

– 7 minutes per kilowatt hour electricity: Also on Friday the Prime Minister announced an additional PPC discount of 10% on rural electricity from May to September, which are months of high rural consumption. As well as the regulation of the debts to the PPC of the Local and General Organizations of Sanitary Improvements (TOEB, GOEB), which currently reach 87 million euros. During the energy crisis the government made a series of interventions to deal with it, which eventually led to absorption of 80-90% of the increase in energy costs in rural tariffs.

– Photovoltaics for farmers: Reduction over a period of two years of the price of the kilowatt hour, at least 30% for farmers participating in cooperative schemes (cooperatives, organizations and groups of producers, etc.) and for farmers practicing contract farming with the construction of the new photovoltaics for farmers , with a guaranteed price for a decade. For the individual farmers, a new Program exclusively for Farmers entitled “Photovoltaics in the Field”, amounting to 30 million euros, will be launched immediately.
The Apollo Program, the largest energy offset program with green energy in the country, will contribute to the overall effort to reduce energy costs, through which TOEB and GOEB will have a significant, and permanent, relief from energy costs.

-Subsidy for supplies and animal feed: The government has reduced VAT from 13% to 6% on animal feed and fertilizers and VAT on purchase of agricultural machinery from 24% to 13%. While at the same time he reduced the taxation of farmers (law 4935/2022), instituted a new tax scale, repealed the Katrougalou law, facilitated access to financing for farmers through the Microcredit Fund and abolished the taxation of aid from the first euro imposed by SYRIZA .

-Not to implement the new CAP and to have a new negotiation: This government managed to negotiate in Brussels and kept for Greek farmers the same resources from the CAP when they were reduced for other countries. And it was the EPP that succeeded and put barriers to the excessive demands and proposals of the Socialists and the Greens, who, in the name of the ecological transition of agriculture, were asking to greatly limit arable land, to reduce subsidies, to tighten production methods.
More specifically, the non-implementation of the new CAP would deprive Greek farmers of aid of the order of 2.8 billion per year that they currently either receive directly, or through various programs, from OPEKEPE. At the same time, it would deprive our country of the possibility of implementing a series of other emblematic programs whose aim is to strengthen primary production and infrastructure in the agri-food sector. The CAP 2023-2027, amounting to 19.3 billion euros, is directed in its entirety to Greek farmers. For the activation of this money, specific conditions have been set with a clear pro-environmental sign, the satisfaction of which, however, in practice lead to an increase in the cost of cultivation, without corresponding aids being given to balance it.

For this reason, since the end of November, Greece has submitted – as it has the right – 6 proposals to amend the framework that governs the Greek CAP Strategic Plan. These proposals were accepted – informal update. They are the same as those submitted by the European Commission just the day before yesterday. Substantial changes can – according to the regulation – be submitted after 2025, and for this reason an alliance has been developed, on Greek initiative, with the 9 countries of the South of the EU in which there are corresponding problems in the implementation of the CAP.

-100% compensation and replacement of lost income on products: The abolition of 20% of the ELGA withholding was initiated by IANO and applied in all cases of natural disasters and extreme disasters, such as the frost of spring 2021, the severe hailstorms of June 2022, while it is currently also applied in Thessaly according to ad hoc program which also does not provide for a 20% reduction. The government established the advance payments in conjunction with the 20% non-withholding to support rural households affected by natural disasters.

However, the government has given €400 million to boost ELGA’s liquidity, activating, for the first time, article 7 of Law 3877/2010 and paying the retroactively due of the previous decade. In the four-year period 2020-2023, in application of the current legislation, compensations of more than 1 billion were paid by ELGA, most of which come from the state budget, i.e. from the Greek taxpayer.

-No to illegal Greekizations: On the order of the competent minister Lefteris Avgenakis, since January 18 sweeping controls on the market have been started by mixed levels of the General Directorate of Food of the YPAAT, EFET, ELGO DIMITRA and the local veterinary services of the DAOK.
Checks are carried out at the country’s entry gates, ports, supermarkets and other retail outlets throughout the country. Checks are also carried out on tankers transporting milk, as relevant complaints have been made to the HYPAAT. In the controls, samples of milk products are taken and sent to accredited laboratories for further chemical analyses, with the aim of complying with the legislation regarding labeling, as well as the milk balances maintained by each processing industry. Controls are also carried out for compliance with the specifications for PDO and PGI products. Corresponding mechanisms of the HYPAT will also be set in motion for honey and meat controls.