PM Mitsotakis: 'We kept our promise to lower the cost of electricity for farmers'

The government has kept its promise and set in motion legislation to lower production costs for agriculture, offering low-cost electricity for farmers and livestock breeders over a decade, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a broader meeting with representatives of agricultural organisations at the Maximos Mansion on Friday.

The prime minister also referred to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), while putting particular emphasis on the need for cooperation in the primary sector.

"As you can see, the meetings on issues that concern the primary sector and especially matters that concern Thessaly are frequent and we would like to continue our previous discussion in more detail and hear the views of the institutional representatives of the primary sector," Mitsotakis said in his opening remarks.

Talking about the measure for lower-cost electricity, he described it as an important intervention that ensures the predictability of a significant cost factor for many farmers.

Regarding CAP, he linked this with the upcoming European elections in three months, noting that the future of CAP will be one of the major issues that will be discussed in the campaign. "Our own view is very clear and expressed at the ministerial level: there need to be changes in CAP, immediate changes. Already, the ministry has submitted a series of thoughts to the EU Council of Ministers regarding a reduction in bureaucracy and greater flexibility as regards CAP's tools," Mitsotakis said.

He predicted that a deeper discussion in the medium to long-term will be needed, regarding the speed at which the green transition is implemented and what this means in terms of the mid- and long-term future commitments and obligations of Greece's farmers and livestock breeders.

Mitsotakis concluded by stressing the importance of cooperation in the primary sector, noting that New Democracy has always supported cooperative schemes, through a series of tax and other incentives, while "investing in technology and know-how and in the qualitative transition of our primary sector, into a truly competitive and innovative export sector." He said the aim was for the value created, especially by exports, to remain in Greece and benefit all links of the productive and manufacturing chain.

The meeting was attended by Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras, Environment and Energy Minister Thodoros Skylakakis, Rural Development and Food Minister Lefteris Avgenakis, Minister of State Stavros Papastavrou, Deputy Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Christos Triantopoulos and General Secretary for Rural Development and Food Giorgos Stratakos, as well as other officials.