By Penelope Galliou

It may be that the “consolidated” democratic lead recorded by all public opinion polls keeps the government’s percentage superiority intact, seven months after the national elections, but the fronts that open one after the other, in the last period of time, since the marriage of same-sex couples until peasant mobilizations and the occupations at the Universities, they keep it government in vigilance.

And while the issue of the same-sex marriage bill seems to have been settled at a satisfactory level, without, of course, stopping the fermentation inside the ND, to limit the losses, the rural mobilizations have just started and the government target is to bend directly the reactions of farmers.

After all, this issue also occupied the expanded cybernetics meeting in the Maximos Palace under the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the participation of the Ministers of State Akis Skertsou, Rural Development and Food Lefteris Avgenakis, Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis, Climate Crisis and Citizen Protection Vassilis Kikilia and Deputy Minister Christos Triandopoulos as well as the Deputy Ministers Interiors of Theodoros Livanios and Infrastructures of Nikos Tahiaou.

According to government sources during the cabinet meeting which lasted approx one and a half hourthere was an overview of the government’s overall interventions for those affected by the co-competent ministries, while the message issued by the government is that “The door of the Ministry of Rural Development is always open” as well as that does not pursue tension and listens to requests.

They add that “the payment of compensations continues as normal”. When asked if only rural development issues were discussed during the meeting, the same sources said there was a comprehensive overview, as in every similar meeting, of all the issues of the ministries involved, such as production costs and energy costs, infrastructure and state help.

Sta requests of the farmers, Megaro Maximos opposes the comprehensive agricultural policy which he has exercised during the previous as well as during the current government term.

In this context, government sources recall a series of measures, nineteen in total, taken from 2019 to date, to strengthen the agricultural world or to alleviate wounds caused by natural disasters, mainly of a fiscal nature, while they place particular emphasis on the efforts to reorganize OPEKE, the aid from ELGA, the CAP policies, but also the compensations from the catastrophic floods.

Between meters mentioned by government sources are:

-The reduction of farmers’ taxation and the provision of incentives for the development of cooperative schemes.

– The institution of a new tax scale for natural persons and professional farmers, which was put into effect for the first time in 2021, with rates starting at 9%, instead of 22%. We also granted a one-off aid of 2% of the turnover for livestock farms,
– The repeal of the Katrougalou law, and the return of farmers’ insurance contributions to insurance classes, disconnecting them from the producer’s income.
– The reactivated the measure of the return of the tax on oil. For the two years 2022 and 2023, around €160 million have been returned to 290,000 farmers.

– The provision of €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.

-A series of interventions to address the energy crisis, which ultimately led to the absorption of 80-90% of the increase in energy costs in rural tariffs.
– The reduction of VAT from 13% to 6% for animal feed and fertilizers.
– .Modernized and digitized the process of re-calling land workers from third countries, while establishing the firm.

-The establishment of the Young Farmers program totaling more than €600 million, i.e. up to €40,000 per beneficiary which is the largest ever given.

– The reduction from 24% to 13% VAT for the purchase of agricultural machinery.

– The abolished the taxation of aid from the first euro imposed by SYRIZA.

Everyone’s eyes – farmers and government – are also on the upcoming report”Agrotica” which will be held in Thessaloniki February 1-4 and they seem to be treating it as a springboard for further escalation of their mobilizations.