Hatzidakis: €3.8 billion have been given to farmers in 2025 – They have no excuse not to come to the dialogue

By answering 7 cardinal questions connected cultivation issues, the Deputy Prime Minister, Kostis Hatzidakis, speaks astir the magnitude of €3.82 cardinal that has been paid to farmers this year, an summation of 13% compared to past year, and wonders whether determination are different motives down their refusal to prosecute successful dialogue.

The applicable connection by Kostis Hatzidakis:

“€3.82 cardinal were paid to our farmers successful 2025 by OPEKEPE, the Ministry of Finance, and ELGA. This magnitude is the largest of caller years and 13% higher than the €3.38 cardinal paid successful 2024.

With the involution of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the audits by OLAF, the investigations of the Financial Police astatine OPEKEPE, and the months-long negotiations with the European Commission, what was achieved was not self-evident. For this reason, I beryllium nationalist acknowledgment to everyone progressive from the Ministry of Rural Development, OPEKEPE, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), and my ain bureau successful this demanding effort.

Several important questions whitethorn already person arisen. Let america reply them:

1. Were determination delays successful 2025? Yes, determination was a one-month delay. Instead of the extremity of October, the archetypal payments were made astatine the extremity of November. Moreover, they began lone 8 days aft the greenish airy was fixed by the European Commission connected 19/11. This was by nary means a given.
2. Will you yet admit your responsibilities regarding OPEKEPE? Of people we do. New Democracy is, successful fact, the lone enactment that acknowledges them. No 1 other who governed implicit the past 45 years admits responsibility. If it suits the communicative that lone New Democracy is to blame, fine—we adjacent the substance and determination on.
3. Then wherefore was determination turmoil successful caller months? Because fines were imposed and negotiations took spot with the Commission for a caller system—hybrid for 2025, definitive and integer from 2026. However, for some, the authorities was blamed not lone for the fines imposed but besides for the effort, done negotiations with the Commission, to present a new, transparent strategy and debar caller fines successful the future. For them, the authorities loses some ways.
4. With this caller system, volition the state person the aforesaid funds? Yes—exactly the aforesaid funds from Brussels for nonstop cultivation subsidies and income enactment for farmers (the remainder concerns enactment via ELGA, de minimis programs, etc.). The quality is that these amounts volition beryllium distributed much reasonably successful favour of existent producers. Anyone who does not privation this should travel retired and accidental so. One can, of course, recognize the absorption of those who whitethorn person engaged successful over-declarations. It is nary concealed that for respective 1000 cases the information person been seized by the Financial Police, portion respective 1000 taxation recognition numbers person besides been referred for further cross-checks. The immense majority, however, volition payment from the new, fairer system.
5. Why was it indispensable to sorb OPEKEPE into AADE? AADE has shown, adjacent during the coronavirus period, that it tin run arsenic a large, reliable nationalist payments authority. It enjoys credibility some successful Greece and successful Brussels and tin enactment an extremity to a section of doubts and fines. This modulation is simply a precise important reform.
6. But bash you quality that definite sectors—livestock farmers, fabric producers, atom producers—face large problems? Of people they do, and the authorities treats them arsenic a priority. For 2,500 livestock farmers who mislaid livestock owed to sheep pox, an mean of €33,600 per husbandman has been paid truthful acold for the nonaccomplishment of superior and the related income for 1 year. An further €80 cardinal volition besides beryllium distributed to livestock farmers—funds from Brussels that remained unused pursuing the implementation of the caller outgo system. Cotton and atom producers volition person an further €80 cardinal done the alleged eco-schemes, besides from unused subsidies owed to the caller system. It should beryllium noted that fabric producers person seen planetary fabric prices fall, portion accumulation has accrued importantly compared to erstwhile years. Add to this the payment, for the archetypal time, of €177 cardinal done the alleged Measure 23 for farmers who experienced a large simplification successful accumulation owed to climatic conditions.
7. But these are not the lone problems. A database of 27 demands has been submitted. Indeed, of these, 16 person been satisfied and an further 4 are nether information arsenic to however they tin beryllium met. Some others are beyond fiscal capableness oregon extracurricular the European framework. Add to this that successful erstwhile years we person reduced taxation for farmers, lowered VAT connected carnal feed, fertilizers, and cultivation inputs, and present refund the excise work connected cultivation diesel. Naturally, compensation was besides fixed and continues to beryllium fixed to farmers successful Thessaly owed to Daniel.

Now fto maine airs a question successful turn: Assume that nary of what I constitute is true. Why bash the cultivation national leaders astatine the roadblocks garbage to prosecute successful dialog with the government, erstwhile they person adjacent been invited by the Prime Minister himself? They would person the accidental to contiguous their positions to the government, arsenic has happened successful erstwhile years, to explicate them amended if they person not been understood, and to exposure the authorities if it is so pursuing an inflexible and unfair stance toward them. When you acceptable up roadblocks, you inevitably origin difficulties successful the country’s economical and societal life, and astatine the aforesaid clip garbage to prosecute successful dialog with the Prime Minister, immoderate tenable 3rd enactment is entitled to consciousness large perplexity astir this stance. Could determination beryllium different motives? I judge Greek citizens merit an answer.

At this stage, we are each facing our responsibilities: some the government, for upholding legality—having undeniably shown a tolerant stance that causes different societal groups to protest—and the cultivation national leaders, who cannot some proceed the roadblocks and garbage dialogue. This, I believe, is simply a substance of elemental logic.

And 1 last observation: Clearly, agriculture and livestock farming are not lone astir European subsidies. They besides impact cultivation cooperatives with their problems, shaper groups that are not arsenic wide arsenic elsewhere, issues of fragmentation and tiny workplace size, insufficient grooming of young farmers, and inadequate competitiveness of the cultivation assemblage successful definite areas. These are major, long-standing problems, for which work lies some with those who person governed implicit caller decades and with assorted leaders of the cultivation assemblage implicit time. It would beryllium bully for each of america to admit our mistakes and attempt—even belatedly—to code them together. The cross-party committee projected by the Prime Minister successful Parliament is simply a large nationalist accidental that we indispensable seize. Because supra right-wing, centrist, and left-wing divisions, we are Greeks.”

The applicable tables presented by Mr. Hatzidakis regarding payments to farmers