The need to prepare and implement a comprehensive plan to support the rural world and the sustainable development of the Greek region, stressed the former Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis speaking today at the anniversary event for the 75 years since the establishment of the Central Cooperative Association of Wine Products.
The former Prime Minister, referring to the timeless problems facing the rural world, said, among other things, that others such as delays in paying compensation and the «transparent, sometimes scandalous and clientile management of Community aid».
He also spoke of «shortsightedness in prioritizing needs and therefore unproductive distribution and low efficiency of European resources».
«All of this came to be heaped on structural problems and pathogens that were not successfully addressed and over the years they malformation and develop into serious threats to the viability of the primary sector and the prospects of the region» also noted the former Prime Minister who also referred to the structural weaknesses of the primary sector such as the small clergy, the ageing of the rural population, the low level of training for farmers and increased production costs .
The event of KEOSOE was attended by the Minister of Rural Development Margaritis Schinas, Deputy Minister Giannis Andrianos, former Minister Makis Voridis, MPs of the ND George Vlahos, Stelios Petsas, PASOK MP Kostas Scandalidis, Diamanto Manolakou from the KKE and Petros Kokkalis.
In detail his speech
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to thank President Christos Markos and the members of the Board of the Central Cooperative Association of Wine Products for their honorable invitation.
I am glad that, as today, I share thoughts and concerns with people of production, creation, decentness. Especially with people serving the primary sector.
Today's event for the 75 years of KEOSE is very important. The higher cooperative organization, the only one left to operate, and continues consistently, militants and also responsible, to promote and defend the interests of cooperative wineries and Greek winegrowers. For sustainability, dignity, the fair reward for the labors of 160 thousand families currently active in the wine economy.
In its 75 years of operation, KEOSE effectively serves the objectives set out in the first place: First of all the constant improvement in the quality of Greek wine products. Focusing and investing in research and innovation. And of course in the promotion of their quality supremacy, their visibility and promotion in domestic and foreign markets.
It is also important that KEOSOE operates as an institutional interlocutor and consultant for the planning, formulation and implementation of the national strategy and policies for the protection and support of products on the markets. For the prosperity of this mission to KEOSOE operates the only one in the country Observatory of Vine and Wine, through which the macroeconomic, structural and statistical figures of the sector are monitored, recorded and evaluated annually. An example of productive cooperation between KEOSE and the state is that developed in 2008, with then Minister for Rural Development and Food Alekso Kondo. The result of the honest dialogue, the meeting and, of course, the negotiating capacity of the minister was the granting, for the first time and the annual payment, within the framework of the CFP, of unbundled single aid to Greek winegrowers.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In recent years, both in Europe and - with particular intensity - in our country, the rural world has been experiencing an extremely difficult, I would say intolerable reality. It is shaped by the simultaneous occurrence of exceptional conditions and the exacerbation of chronic problems. I gleam:
• The Covid 19 pandemic. The blocking of economies, the crisis in the supply chain, the slow and painful restart after lock down, the first wave of inflationary pressures.
• The war in Ukraine. Intense turbulence in the fertilizer and feed markets. Launching energy costs. A problem that has deteriorated and is at risk of being taken out of control by the extension of the Iran-US-Israel conflict and the possible resumption of hostilities, after the end of the barren to this hour, of a truce. Beyond the geopolitical dimension, the apparent lack of fuel and the further rise in their price will worsen an already problematic situation, causing consequences.
• A great financial burden, especially for small and medium-sized farmers, from the implementation of the European Union's rushed, reckless and untimely energy transition decisions.
In our country, upon these problems came to button:
• The rapid increase in production costs.
• The reduction in producer prices and the decline in agricultural income.
• Extensive damage to infrastructure, plant and livestock. of natural disasters, diseases and zoonoses.
• Delays in the payment of compensation.
• Intransparent, sometimes scandalous and clientile management of Community aid.
• Short-sightedness in prioritizing needs and therefore unproductive distribution and low efficiency of European resources.
All of this has come to be heaped on structural problems and pathogens that have not been successfully addressed and over the years they have been misformed and developed into serious threats to the sustainability of the primary sector and the prospects of the region.
Today we all recognize and evaluate them as major challenges. The question is, what are we going to do before it's too late to deal with them?
The major structural weaknesses which mine productivity and undermine the competitiveness of the primary sector are:
• The small and fragmented clergy. In Greece 75% of farms use up to 50 acres of land. They are so small that they cannot achieve economies of scale. Only 3% of farms exceed 300 acres, when the valueless European average is 11%. At the same time the fragmentation of the earth into many small and usually not adjacent areas requires investment in means and equipment. But investments that do not lead to productivity growth.
This reality inescapably leads us to the one way to encourage and substantially strengthen collective schemes, that is, modern new-style cooperatives, operating as business entities. Investing in research and innovation. Standardization and quality. To competitiveness and extroversion. Cooperatives with professional administrations, which adopt industrial production standards. They negotiate and conclude direct contracts with retail centres that follow modern practices that ensure high producer prices and decent income.
• The ageing and unsustainable renewal of the rural populationThe agricultural sector is based, year after year, on older ages. According to a recent study of «DISTRIBUTION», from 2008 to 2020 over 55 farmers increased from 33% to 38% of the total. The primary sector loses young people, who move away from the profession, alienate themselves from their land, leave the District. It is an expression of the demographic crisis, which if it is not assessed as a national challenge and not treated in time as such will lead to the abandonment of the rural sector, to the decline of the Region. This must be prevented at all costs. In the countryside the heart of Greece beats. Powerful Greece cannot exist without economically prosperous productive thriving and life-saving District.
• The low level of training for farmersThe Greek farmers, unfortunately, are one of the least trained in the EU. According to ELSTAT in 2023 only 6% had full or even basic training.
• The increase in production costs. A lot of reasons for that. As it is mainly due to the price of oil to point out that for the development and sustainability of the primary sector a drastic reduction in energy costs is necessary. Strengthening energy autonomy, through small photovoltaic plants, can provide stability in production costs, effectively zeroing electricity costs. Let's see what happens in other countries, for example, in Germany where farmers held 16% of the country's total photovoltaics zeroed electricity costs for their production. In Greece, 450 thousand farmers, i.e. 13% of the workforce, own only 2% of the photovoltaic units.
Friends and friends,
That's the reality. Let's look her in the eye, accept her without embellishment and evasion. The importance of the primary sector for economy, food security, regional development, employment and social cohesion is self-evident.
So now, before any possibility of intervention is finally lost, with a sense of national and social responsibility, in a spirit of consultation and with the broadest possible consensus, it is necessary to prepare, finance and implement an integrated plan to support the rural world and the sustainable development of the Greek region.
With emphasis on creating a more friendly, sustainable and secure environment in which young people and young people in the region can live, work with dignity and produce in terms of competitiveness. By investing in education, training, continuing scientific support for young farmers. By re-establishing the production process of the land occupied, some 6 million acres. With low interest loans to young farmers, without strict guarantees.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The challenges are ahead. And we are dictated to meet our patriotic debt. With these thoughts I wish an even more creative and productive continuity in your work.
