It is his first working visit to a Flemish agricultural company for the European Commissioner from Poland. At the request of the Groene Kring, an association for young farmers. “We want to innovate and become more sustainable, but we are also an economic sector and have to generate an income. And there is quite a bit of pressure from Europe with all kinds of guidelines. Too often they have been drawn up in ivory towers in Brussels and not with the feet on the field,” says chairman of the Groene Kring, Bram Van Hecke.
Flanders receives approximately 210 million euros from Europe every year in direct support for farmers and horticulturists. The entire European budget is approximately 40 billion euros per year.