Hungary and Latvia have requested an extension of EU rules allowing state subsidies for buyers of farmland following a decision last Friday by EU agriculture ministers to grant a request by Poland for an additional four years of subsidies. According to vg.hu, the requests of Hungary and Latvia could be on the agenda when ministers re-convene next month.
Following the decision, Poland will be able to offer such support to buyers of farmland until the end of 2013. They applied for the renewal citing the negative effects of the ongoing global financial crisis and continuing need for restructuring of the farm sector.
The waivers would allow countries to work around an EU directive forbidding state support for farmland purchases. The directive banning such support was enacted in 2007 on the grounds that it discriminated against certain groups, such as young farmers, by raising the prices of existing land.