The next meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) will take place in Brussels on 22 May 2018. The Hungarian delegation will be led by H.E. Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. On the agenda will be -- among other -- the adoption of mandate to open negotiations on Free Trade Agreements with Australia and New Zealand, the review of the state of play of the negotiations in the World Trade Organization. Ministers will discuss the state of play of the trade relations between the EU and the United States.

The informal meeting of health ministers under the Bulgarian Presidency took place on 22-23 April in Sofia, where Ms Márta Ladányi deputy secretary of state headed the Hungarian delegation.

Prospects are positive for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to remain an adequately financed strong policy after 2020. EU Ministers of Agriculture approved presidency conclusions with regard to the future orientation of the CAP in Brussels. The document successfully includes the key elements of the V4 Declaration adopted in Budapest in January. The decision reached by the Ministers of Agriculture provides a clear direction for the Commission when elaborating CAP legislative proposals to be published by the end of May – emphasized Sándor Fazekas, Minister of Agriculture after the Council meeting held in Brussels on 19 March.

Following a Czech and Hungarian initiative the EU ministers in charge of fishery has discussed the continuation of supporting the freshwater aquaculture sector after 2020. Sixteen Member States asked the Commission to maintain the subsidies of the freshwater aquaculture in the post-2020 period, because it is pivotal for the sector – stated agricultural minister, Sándor Fazekas.