Zagreb - Croatian Parliament Agriculture Committee chair Marijana Petir said on Monday that there could be no food or national security without farmers and fishers, calling for stronger support for domestic production.
Opening an interparliamentary conference in Dubrovnik, held as part of Croatia's parliamentary presidency of the EU MED9 group and ahead of the adoption of the new Common Agricultural Policy and Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028-2034, Petir said "food security begins in the field and at sea rather than on shop shelves” and called for stronger support for farmers and fishers and shorter supply chains.
She said Croatia needed a rethink of agricultural policy, noting that exporting raw materials while importing finished products meant losing added value. She called for investment in infrastructure from silos and mills to logistics and distribution centres. She criticised proposed cuts of 22% to agriculture and 60% to fisheries in the EU budget, and called for agricultural infrastructure to be included as critical infrastructure and sales below production costs to be classified as unfair trading practices.
Irish Parliament Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food chair Aindrias Moynihan said EU members needed practical solutions to support rural communities, agriculture and food production.
Croatian Chamber of Agriculture president Željko Mihalić warned that domestic food was becoming less represented on supermarket shelves and called for investment in technology, distribution storage and facilities such as communal slaughterhouses and shared silos, saying cooperation was essential for farmers' survival.