Commissioner Cioloş opened the AgroBalt 2010 agro-food Fair in Lithuania
Together with the President of the Republic of Lithuania Ms. Dalia Grybauskaitė, Commissioner Dacian Cioloș opened the most important agriculture, food and packaging fair in the Baltic Region– AgroBalt 2010 on 29 April 2010. In his opening speech in Vilnius, Commissioner Cioloș underlined the need to reform the Common Agricultural Policy. “In discussing future policy, we have to keep in mind the modernization of agriculture everywhere in Europe. Farms need to be competitive, but competitive does not necessarily mean big. Farmers have to find their own competitiveness – perhaps on international markets, but maybe at national, regional or local level. There is no one size fits all – especially not within the context of our diverse Europe, with 27 member states”, declared the Commissioner.
During his official visit to Lithuania, Mr. Cioloș had meetings with the Lithuanian Prime Minister, Mr. Andrius Kubilius and the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Kazys Starkevicius with whom he discussed the future reform of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013. The Lithuanian officials stressed the need for an equitable distribution of direct payments for farmers in all member states.
Debating the future of European agriculture after 2013 at the political forum “Quality of Life in Rural Areas and Opportunities in the light of new EU Financial Perspective”, with the Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and Polish ministers of agriculture and with representatives of farmers organisations, Commissioner Cioloș underlined that the Common Agricultural Policy has to be attuned to the expectations of European citizens
