Constitutional Court will not intervene in government's setting of subsidies for farmers

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday unanimously rejected a proposal by opposition MPs, according to which current government regulation disadvantages collectively engaged farmers, such as cooperatives, when distributing state support. In their view, it benefits farmers who farm independently. The Constitutional Court will not intervene in the matter, and the setting of subsidies to farmers will remain unchanged.

The chairman of the Farmers' Defenders Association, Jaroslav Lád, said that the current rules are destroying the countryside and that farmers will look for other ways to defend their interests, for example in elections. Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný welcomed the verdict. "The setting of subsidies is a political matter, not a constitutional one," court reporter Tomáš Langášek told journalists.