During his first speech in the debate in Parliament on the topical question on the «Level of preparation for the implementation of the new CAP and the National Strategic Plan (NSRP)» the Member of Parliament of Laconia and Minister of Rural Development of SYRIZA-PS St. Arachovitis referred to the fact that we are only thirteen working days from the start of the new Common Agricultural Policy of the new programming period, and yet the level of preparation is incomplete both at the level of the Ministry's services and the services of OPEKEPE, technical consultants, platform. At the same time St. Arachovitis criticised the low level of information for those directly involved, the farmers.
In support of these St. Arachovitis reported “just on 18-11, a few days ago, an international electronic tender was held to select a technical consultant contractor to support the new programming period. As you can understand, planning, awarding a consultant last days with an international tender is not going to succeed, let alone start the preparation, at the level of configuration to get the technical specifications and formulate the new platform needed both in the direct support of «Pillar I» and in the preparation of «Pillar II».”
The Minister, for his part, was content to list past actions and the preparation of the Strategic Plan and made no reference to the planning and urgent and timely preparation of the services on which he was asked. His reference to the fact that “the European Commission is aware of the difficulties and the narrow margins that exist for the activation of the new CAP, especially for the first year of 2023 and for this reason it has given a two-year transitional period of implementation until 2025, while at the next Council of Ministers the issue is high on the agenda of the European Union”.” hopefully it is not the official but convenient excuse for the delays and incomplete preparation.
St. Arachovitis stressed that the question is completely different “It was not about what has been done with the National Strategic Plan, but who is working on the new National Strategic Plan. Because, as you said, a lot of things are changing. It's changing the definition of «active farmer». There is no more «greening» and become ecological schemes. ΠWho has informed producers of this in the past, when they should have been deciding which seeds to choose?; It still changes the definition of redistributive aid. There is the new AKIS« system», which is a new and unprecedented action for Greece, which requires preparation. So, the question was who was working on them.”
The delays in the international tender imply, according to St. Arachovitis that by the end of the year we will not have a technical consultant and therefore he raised the question of whether we will have a technical consultant by the end of the year. “Are we going to go to another direct award, Minister, which will have to do with the year 2023? When will the direct award even come out, with what money?; Because the concern here is not only how the money will be given, whether it will be by direct award or by international competition. But, it's the bottom line if farmers will lose money in the end.”
As for the updates, the St. Arachovitis called for convincing political answers to the phenomena of substitution of necessary information by party events stating “And since you mentioned information, today in Orestiada the prefectural committee of New Democracy is holding an information event with your colleague, the Deputy Minister, Mr. The Ministry is not holding an information event. So, this is a political question of who is holding briefings and for what purpose. We have entered an informal election period. In any case, in a few months, more or less, we will have elections. If briefings are being undertaken by your party's county executive and calling ministers, we are talking about unprecedented things happening. It's from the ministry, but the deputy ministers are present. This is not happening. I think there should be a convincing political response here.”
The Minister has followed to the letter the Government and the Prime Minister's policy on wiretapping which is tearing political life apart. So, in essence, he has avoided answering all of the above. And his attempt to reassure us with reference to the fact that “the text of the tender notice has been amended and at the next meeting of the Governing Board their approval will be sought for an open international electronic tender for the above-mentioned project.” worries us even more.
