At the session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 18 March in Brussels, Hungary requested that output-based funding be maintained at their current level or even increased in the period following 2020 in a joint statement with Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
“The European Commission’s proposal, according to which the direct funding budget due to Hungary would reduce output-based funding from its current level of 13+2 percent to 10+2 percent, is an obvious step backwards. Maintaining the level of this funding is of fundamental importance to the suitable financing and competitive maintenance of labour-intensive sectors such an animal husbandry and horticulture”, head of the Hungarian delegation Minister of State or Rural Development Miklós Kis said following the session.
“The system of production-based funding generally provides an opportunity to provide supplemental funding to a sector that is experiencing difficulties, and accordingly the question of exactly what sectors may receive this funding in future is an important one. In this respect, Hungary is giving preference to extending the scope of the system, in view of the fact that situations may arise that require the inclusion of further sectors. It is enough to think of the negative effects on certain sectors caused by the Russian embargo, which has been in force since 2015, or the possible effects of ongoing international trade negotiations”, the Minister of State pointed out. In addition to the seven countries who signed the statement, several other countries also assured the parties of their support at the Council meeting.
“Hungary has an interest in the adoption of a new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) through which Hungarian farmers can apply for and receive the funding to which they are due in the easiest possible manner. However, assuring this requires the significant amendment of the European Commission’s current proposal”, Mr. Kis stressed.
At the second session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council during the current Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union, several other elements of the ongoing reform of the Common Agricultural Policy were also discussed, and the parties agreed that further negotiations are required, primarily with relation to the implementation regulations of the new funding system.