LH deputy Pernkopf/Minister Totschnig and EU MP Bernhuber on the upcoming conference
St. Pölten (OTS) – In the run-up to today’s State Agricultural Representative Conference (LARK), LH deputy Stephan Pernkopf informed about the central topics of the conference at a press conference at “Winzer Krems” with Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig and EU MP Alexander Bernhuber.
“Here we are at the beginning of the Wachau and we see a cultural landscape that has been recognized by UNESCO. A landscape that has been shaped by agriculture and where it is wine here, elsewhere it is dairy farming that creates alpine pastures, forestry that maintains forests, or agriculture that makes us a land of fields. A landscape that we are rightly proud of. Created by an agriculture that we can rightly be proud of,” said LH deputy Stephan Pernkopf, who at the same time admitted: “Of course the farmers do not do this as a joke or as an end in itself, but rather they produce food, to feed their own families and to feed all of Austria.” This will become even more important in the future, because the world population will increase by 2.5 billion people by 2050. That is why, according to Pernkopf, we are resisting “all measures” that lead to a decline in production. However, food production is often pushed into the background by unnecessary requirements, excessive bureaucracy and excessive ideology. “That’s why I based this LARK on the motto: ‘Less paperwork – more agriculture’. We want fewer hurdles and more help, not just appreciation – but also value creation,” he emphasized.
Among other things, today’s conference will deal with three central points. Firstly, it will involve a stop to regulations and the evaluation of new regulations or an automatic expiry of new regulations at European level as well as an inflation adjustment of the compensation payments. As a second point, Pernkopf is calling for Austrian relief and fairness when it comes to agricultural diesel. “We need fairness in the taxation of agricultural diesel. Austria’s farmers pay 40 cents per liter more than farmers in other EU countries. That is why we are calling for this exception and a cheaper tariff for Austria as well.” That would mean relief that would be effective immediately and would benefit all sectors and organic, said the LH deputy, who emphasized: “The farmers have fairness “We deserve and need an agricultural diesel tariff.” Thirdly, we want to protect nature and use it sensibly. He therefore sees a need for action on three regulations at EU level. In addition to the renaturation regulation and the deforestation regulation, we also have to talk about reducing the protection status of wolves. “There is a clear no to the first two topics because they take no account of the situation in Austria and Lower Austria. In Austria the forest is growing over and we are already renaturalizing rivers. However, the two regulations would restrict and expropriate agriculture and forestry. What is needed quickly, however, is a reduction in the protection status of the wolf,” says Pernkopf.
Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig said that “many people have the feeling that the EU would rather deal with screw caps on PET bottles than with how we can make agriculture and forestry more competitive.” He has been calling for a course correction in EU policy for months and he is very pleased that “the Commission is finally taking up our concerns.” According to the Agriculture Minister, food supply must become a central priority of the EU. “Security of supply will only exist in the future if farmers can produce and work,” he said, pointing out that Austria has the youngest agriculture in the entire EU – that is, that Austrian farmers are, on average, younger in all other EU countries. This is due to the fact that incentives are set in this country instead of bans. Nevertheless, “numerous farmers now have the feeling that they are being seceded by the EU. The bureaucracy is strangling many people.” Austria’s agricultural policy is making progress because people are “looking around for allies” at the European level. Totschnig sees successes in this regard with the issue of wolves, with laboratory meat and with the simplifications of the Common Agricultural Policy.
MEP Alexander Bernhuber said that around 80 percent of the legislation affecting farmers comes from the European Union. On the subject of wolves, he noted that “in no other country is the regulation of wolves implemented in the same way as in Austria – but legal certainty is still needed at the European level.” There are now more than 25,000 wolves across Europe, which is why this species is “no longer a concern Threatened extinction”. This is a success in terms of species protection, but what we have is “not a natural landscape, but a cultivated landscape where agriculture is almost impossible if sheep are killed every day.” Decisions will be needed here in the next few months, not just at the state level also at the European level.”
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