“Hungary is calling for the adoption a farmer-friendly and much simpler Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) at EU-level negotiations. This is in harmony with the Joint Declaration of the Ministers of Agriculture of the Visegrád Group (V4) and Croatia adopted in Budapest on 25 January”, Minister of Agriculture Sándor Fazekas emphasised following Monday’s session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels.
EU agricultural ministers have ahead an intensive period in view of the fact that the current Bulgarian Presidency’s goal is to adopt a joint document on the Council’s position (the so-called conclusions) at the Council Meeting on 19 March pointing out the direction the post-2020 CAP should take. The basis of the ministerial debate was the Communication published by the European Commission on 29 November 2017, which includes proposals for the future framework of the CAP.
Head of the Hungarian delegation Minister Sándor Fazekas said the level of funding available within the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework to finance the CAP was a key issue. He confirmed that Hungary has special interest in the continuation of traditional policies, including maintaining the current level of CAP funding. Hungary is ready to increase its contribution to the EU budget. “We reject the introduction of national co-financing in the 1st pillar of the CAP”, the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture stressed. In his opinion, this would mean that more affluent Western European countries would be able to provide more financial resources to their farmers, while also reducing the level of their contribution to the common budget. “This would, on the one hand, lead to the renationalisation of the CAP, and secondly it would mean an unjustified competitive advantage for Western European farmers”, the Minister argued.
The proposal on the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework is expected to be published at the end of May. Final decision will be taken by the European Council.
At the Council session, Commissioner Phil Hogan provided further details with regard to the Commission’s plans. “According to the information provided, there is a real chance that existing support schemes could become significantly simpler”, Mr. Fazekas said.
The most important new element of the Commission’s plan is that Member States would draw up a Strategic Plan covering both pillars of the CAP, which would then be approved by the Commission. in this regard, the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture emphasised that, based on the information available to date, practical implementation seems rather uncertain, and primarily with relation to the CAP’s 1st pillar funding (direct payments). Hungary has asked the Commission to indicate how the implementation of the new system would work in practice. New solutions are also expected concerning greening since the Commission is ready to introduce new solutions.
“I made it clear at today’s Council meeting that Hungary can only accept farmer-friendly new CAP basic regulations which result in a significant simplification of the CAP”, the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture said.
