The Vice President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Dragan Kovačević, said that "green policies" have further complicated the situation in the present EU programme period by introducing new standards that will make it even more difficult to obtain grants.
"Last year, the EU recorded a 5% drop in real income per labour unit, while Croatia recorded a 10% drop. There is a fear that the consistent implementation of green policies could lead to the EU, the largest food exporter in the world, becoming a large importer," Kovačević warned.
He said that, despite the existing challenges, crop production in Croatia is competitive, adding that, for example, Croatia is self-sufficient in the production of oilseeds and cereals, producing almost twice as much as its needs.
"Although crop production in Croatia is competitive, being a small country with small production is not good, and it is not good that we export raw materials, wheat, corn and soybeans, while importing large quantities of livestock products, meat, milk, animal feed and bakery products," Kovačević pointed out.
Kovačević said that in the future it will be necessary to connect crop production more closely with the livestock and food industry in order to increase added value. This will require a new law on state agricultural land in order to prevent the fragmentation of existing properties and production and technological units, he added.
Croatia stands well in terms of "green indicators"
The State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Zdravko Tušek, said that Croatia stands well in terms of "green indicators", because it applies much less pesticides and has far lower emissions of greenhouse gases from agriculture compared to other EU member states.
He, however, warned that despite large investments in recent years, the productivity of Croatia's agricultural production is at 30% of the EU productivity average, adding that it is necessary to look for solutions in cooperation with scientific institutions.
Tušek recalled that, in addition to other grants, in 2024 the Ministry provided €20 million to alleviate the consequences of this year's drought, especially in crop farming. What will further contribute to stability is the earlier start of advance payments, because by the end of the year, slightly more than €245 million will be paid out through four basic measures, he said.