Farmers in the Czech Republic receive the fifth largest package of national subsidies in the European Union, behind Poland, Germany and Austria. Moreover, the whole system is set up in such a way that small farmers often do not receive subsidies at all. According to Viktor Daňek, deputy director of EUROPEUM Institute, the system cannot function fairly without a cap or a significant degression in payments.
Then there are the extreme ends that we see, for example, in southern Italy and Slovakia, where the market is being cornered by mafiosi who are really only interested in the number of hectares in order to get the highest possible payment from the European Union and not in looking after the countryside.
You can read the full article here.
#subsidies #agricultureBefore entering the NGO sphere, Viktor Daněk worked for almost ten years as a journalist. During his time with the public service Czech radio, he focused mainly on covering EU affairs. He spent almost five years as a permanent correspondent in Brussels, where he cooperated with other media outlets. Before his career in journalism, he gained experience in the area of marketing and communication in the Česká spořitelna banking group and at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He holds university degrees in Media Studies and International Relations. Viktor Daněk joined the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in October 2023. He continues to be active in the media as a freelancer. His main areas of interest are institutional questions of European integration, globalisation and the EU’s climate and migration policy.