“Active farmer” moves on. The committee rejected PiS's request to throw out the bill

On Wednesday, the Parliamentary Agriculture Committee did not support the motion submitted by PiS to reject the bill on the active farmer in the first reading.

A motion to reject the project was submitted by PiS MP Robert Telus, but the vote on it took place after a several-hour break ordered by the chairman of the committee, Mirosław Maliszewski (PSL-TD). 34 people took part in the vote; 15 voted for the motion, 19 against.

When submitting the application, Telus stated that “such an important structural law, when it comes to Polish agriculture, should be conducted in dialogue with farmers and cannot be thrown in at the last minute.” As he noted, the act is to enter into force on March 15 this year. He emphasized that the proposed act divides Polish farmers.

During the committee meeting, the draft bill was criticized by opposition MPs and some agricultural organizations. Before ordering a break, opposition MPs showed impatience, arguing that such a vote should take place immediately. They also said that the reason for the extended break was the desire to summon coalition MPs so as not to lose the vote.

Stefan Krajewski, Minister of Agriculture, who was present at the meeting, pointed out that the project had been consulted since January 2025, i.e. over a year, and talks had taken place with all organizations and unions. He informed that “in the project after 2027, EUR 42.5 billion has been allocated for rural areas and agriculture, a historically record amount that will go to farmers and rural areas.”

The government's bill on amending certain acts in order to strengthen the position of professionally active farmers proposes amending the provisions on the national system of registering producers, registering farms and registering applications for payments. The bill was submitted to the Sejm on December 31, 2025.

The proposed act introduces the definition of an active farmer. It assumes improvement of the conditions for conducting agricultural activity by better targeting support to professionally active farmers, i.e. those who actually run activities on their farms. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the proposed solutions are a response to the demands submitted by farmers and agricultural organizations.

According to the government's proposal, people who meet the indicated criteria, such as having animals or using selected payments or investment support, will automatically be recognized as professionally active farmers. Other farmers will have to document incurring the costs of agricultural activity or obtaining income from the sale of agricultural products.

For approx. 600 thousand small farms, a transitional solution will be introduced for 2026, which will allow them to prepare and adapt to the new requirements. (PAP)

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