Given that several farmers’ roadblocks across the country are gradually weakening and there is clear fatigue among farm union leaders after 1.5 months of mobilizations, today’s meeting of the committee of the “25” with Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos Mansion is estimated to be able to serve as a step toward easing the protests. While the prime minister has made it clear that there is no additional money available for the “hardliners” at the roadblocks who chose not to attend the originally scheduled meeting last Tuesday, certain corrections to the package for the primary sector that carry no fiscal cost could be made, so as to offer a route to a “dignified exit” for the farm union representatives.

“Farmers know that the framework of interventions the government can make has, in practice, already been announced. And this framework is clearly defined by the fiscal margins, which we have exhausted, by social justice, and by European rules,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed in his Sunday post, essentially setting the parameters ahead of the discussion that will take place at 13:00. While the farm union leaders, for their part, say they have arguments to persuade the prime minister and warn that they will return to the front line of mobilizations if their demands are not met, the Maximos Mansion believes that common ground can be found on certain measures that do not involve fiscal costs.

It is recalled that Mr. Mitsotakis will also hold a separate, special meeting in the coming days—specifically next week—exclusively on livestock farming, with an emphasis on sheep pox.

The Maximos Mansion also has a strong argument as to why no additional money can be allocated to the agricultural sector, simply because today’s farm union leaders are more “hardline” than those who went to the Maximos Mansion last Tuesday. That argument is that one social group, no matter how important, cannot be unilaterally strengthened while other social groups are unable to make equally forceful claims.

Targeted improvements

One measure expected to be discussed concerns electricity and the so-called net metering. This is essentially a self-generation energy program that allows farmers to install photovoltaic systems to cover their energy needs (irrigation, agricultural operations), drastically reducing costs by using the grid as a “virtual battery” to offset surplus energy. Government officials estimate that such a regulation could move forward in the coming period.

Other issues that could be discussed include, for example, an increase in the subsidized liters per crop, which affects about 10% of producers, as well as further improvements to the regulation for low-cost electricity for those with overdue debts. Also on the table is the possibility of faster technical completion of the new software for cheaper agricultural diesel at the pump (without excise duty and the corresponding VAT).

All of the above come in addition to the measures that have already been announced and were improved a few days ago, along with the regulation on the Property Identification Number, which concerns tens of thousands of agricultural plots in Northern Greece and was finalized at a meeting held at the Vice-Presidency of the government at noon last Wednesday.

On behalf of the government, those present at today’s meeting will include Vice President Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of Rural Development Kostas Tsiaras along with the deputy ministers and general secretaries of his ministry, AADE governor Giorgos Pitsilis together with the interim governor of OPEKEPE Giannis Kavvadas, deputy ministers to the prime minister Giorgos Mylonakis and Thanasis Kontogeorgis, and possibly the Secretary General for Fiscal Policy Pavlina Karasiotou, as Deputy Minister of Finance Thanos Petralias, who attended the previous meeting, will be absent due to the Eurogroup.