Bulgaria is invited as a full member of Copa-Cogeca

Two agricultural organizations – the Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber and the Bulgarian Farmers Union – will represent Bulgaria in the largest European organization of farmers and their cooperatives, "Copa-Cogeca", BNR reported.

Copa-Cogeca represents in Brussels the interests of nearly 30 million farmers and their families, as well as around 38,000 cooperatives.

Until today, Bulgaria was the only EU country without representation in the organization, but now two Bulgarian organizations will share the membership costs in the most influential agricultural cooperative in Europe.

One of the reasons for Bulgaria’s long absence from the stage of the major agricultural cooperatives, highlighted by the Executive Director of the Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber, Svetlana Boyanova, in an interview for the programme ''Horizont for You'', is the enormous amount of the membership fee.

The annual membership fee amounts to 190 thousand euro, and for Bulgaria, as we are the last Member State, there will be a transitional period during which a percentage will be paid, increasing over the next 4 years. According to Svetlana Boyanova, by joining as a full member of Copa-Cogeca, our country will rise to a different level regarding decision-making and direct influence in the field of European agriculture.

Uniting many sectors for a common cause – the sound development of Bulgarian agricultural producers

The Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber, in which 13 organizations are members, consists of almost 10,000 members, who are only producers. For the time being, processors will not be members of the Chamber, but at a later stage a merger with the food industry sector is not excluded. A process is currently underway to attract universities, professional organizations, veterinarians, importers of plant protection products and fertilizers. The latest inquiry is from the Association of Vocational High Schools of Agriculture. Experts from the universities will participate in working groups and will contribute to increasing scientific capacity.

The Bulgarian Farmers Union is a nationally represented non-profit association with representatives from all segments of agriculture and the processing industry. Part of the ideas, tasks and challenges laid down in the structuring of the organization are related to improving the activity and competitiveness of farmers, producers, processors and traders, the precise management of agricultural, forestry and fish farming holdings, and the conduct of an active dialogue with state authorities.