Michał Kołodziejczak: We must protect our interests, just like Germany did

Michał Kołodziejczak from AgroUnia in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is to be appointed deputy minister. As he emphasized, he had not seen his office yet because he was waiting for official documents. However, he does not wait to work and even on Friday he talked to farmers protesting in Medyka.

Kołodziejczak interested in food and land

– I want to influence what is happening in the food trade. I would like to keep an eye on it and know what all these mechanisms look like, he emphasized. As he said, he is also interested in issues related to the sale and lease of state land.

– I believe that the land should be in Polish hands. As the constitution says, the basis of the agricultural system in Poland is a family farm, up to 300 hectares. Today, there are very few such farms, he pointed out. In his opinion, even small farms should provide a living for their owners.

The politician also paid a lot of attention to food prices. – I often wonder why supermarkets can make money on food – where was the ministry, where was the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection? Many changes are needed here. When there is someone in the ministry who is responsible for this, why doesn’t he submit motions to the Prime Minister to change the competences of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection? For me they are too small. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection should have prosecutorial tools, he said.

– I would like to find out why this supply chain is so long, why supermarkets rarely buy directly from Polish farmers and why the final price on the store shelf is often several times higher than the manufacturer’s, said Kołodziejczak, announcing a meeting with representatives of supermarket chains in our country.

Kołodziejczak on Ukraine: We need to protect Polish interests

Michał Kołodziejczak also stated that Poland will not stop Ukraine’s integration with the European Union, so it should prepare appropriately for it. – We need to protect our interests, e.g. as Germany did when Poland joined the EU, when the labor market was frozen for Poles for 8 years. Today we must talk about the fact that agri-food products from Ukraine – raw and processed – are not to reach Poland for, for example, 20 years after Ukraine’s accession to the EU, he said.