Greek opposition criticizes new agricultural and fisheries bill

Opposition members in the Greek Parliament have raised concerns regarding a new bill from the Ministry of Rural Development and Food. The legislation aims to regulate the fisheries sector, amend the Fishing Code, and establish regulations for meat profession schools and the Registry of Farmers and Agricultural Holdings.

During the debate, Vassilis Metaxas of the Communist Party (KKE) criticized the bill, arguing it fails to address the survival issues of small-scale fishermen, farmers, and beekeepers. He claimed the regulations favor large aquaculture companies and facilitate the concentration of marine resources among a few business groups while imposing digital monitoring mechanisms that target small-to-medium fishers.

Manolis Chnaris of PASOK – Movement for Change highlighted technical failures within the new ‘myAgro’ platform used for the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS). He noted that only 15,000 applications had been finalized out of 600,000 potential beneficiaries despite upcoming deadlines. Chnaris warned that these functional deficiencies could prevent farmers from receiving essential basic subsidies on time.