Agriculture, Baltic, EU – Baltic States, Lithuania

Arunas Svitojus, chairman of the Lithuanian Chamber of Agriculture, says Lithuanian farmers want payments to match the EU average.

"Lithuanians already yielded when joining the EU and during later negotiations since aid and payment to our agriculture sector is way below the level of other EU states. Lithuanians get under 70% of the EU average," Svitojus told BNS Lithuania on Tuesday.

In his words, farmers plan a new protest on Dec. 13 when the EU's budget for 2021-2027 and other agricultural issues will be discussed in Brussels. Farmers from Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will join the protest, Svitojus said.

Agriculture Minister Giedrius Surplys said in October the European Council agreed in 2013 that Lithuanian farmers will get at least 196 euros per ha by the end of 2019, from the existing 170 euros. And now, under the European Commission's proposal, Lithuania will get 180 euros only in 2027.

All in all, Lithuania is set to be allocated 3.344 bln euros in direct payments in 2021-2027, up 5.8% from 2014-2020. But 1.214 bln euros, down 26.2%, is set to be allocated for rural development.