Farmers

AGRICULTURE Minister Timis Efthymiou yesterday called farmers to a dialogue to discuss current problems in the sector and agricultural organisations` threat of dynamic measures.

Farmers` unions, which have decided to merge in protest, were meeting late last night to decide what action to take to protest against the government’s handling of the sector since the island joined the EU last May. They feel their livelihoods are under threat of extinction from foreign competition and are bemoaning the way the Agriculture Ministry is handling the Common Agriculture Policy.

They also say they are not receiving adequate EU funding from the government.

As the crisis deepened yesterday Efthymiou held a news conference during which he called the farmers to a dialogue.

“The Ministry is open to a dialogue to review the problems in the agricultural sector, and there are problems, Efthymiou said. “However there are no magic solutions”.

Efthymiou said that his Ministry had already submitted proposals to the EU for modifications to the policy as regards Cyprus. He also said farmers were being briefed on harmonisation issues and that meetings were held regularly. The Ministry itself was also being overhauled to ensure a smoother operation of EU programmes.

Changes has also been made in the various semi-governmnent agricultural organisations, such as the Olive, Dairy, Wine and Potato boards, Eftyhymiou said.

“We are accused of having a non-existent agricultural policy but if all this is not agricultural policy, then what is?’ he said, adding that the government was doing all it could to support farmers by responsibly exhausting all legal means under EU law, which does not allow subsidies. To violate community law would expose the island to the danger of having fines imposed, he added.
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The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.