“It is in all of our interests for the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to continue to provide effective tools for handling natural and economic crises, increase the competitiveness of European agriculture and stabilise the income of farmers”, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture said at the Peace Bread conference in Várna, Bulgaria.
István Nagy stressed that Hungary is sticking to its standpoint according to which a strong, two-pillar CAP that has a similar budget to the current one and which exclusively serves agricultural producers, must continue to be maintained in future. “The inclusion of any new goals must include the addition of the required additional funding”, he added.
“The radical reorganisation of the system is not necessary, because the current system already provides member states with enough flexibility to develop their own models according to their own requirements”, he highlighted. Funding received within the framework of the CAP has played an important role in enabling the profitability of Hungarian agriculture to tangibly increase in recent years, in addition to which the situation of agricultural producers has become stable despite fluctuations in agricultural prices.
Within the frameworks provided for by the Common Agricultural Policy, Hungary has committed itself to assuring a high quality food supply and is practicing a policy of GMO-free crop production, with a full ban in force on the public cultivation of genetically modified organisms.
The Deputy Minister also mentioned that as a source of food for humanity, agriculture is one of the most important factors affecting our lives.
The Peace Bread Project was initiated by Germany on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A large common bread is baked using rye produced in the participating countries, symbolising the relationship between agriculture and peace.
The main topic of the Peace Bread ministerial conference in Várna was the sustainable farming of agricultural land, including the future of the CAP, within the framework of which ministers from the twelve member states participating in the programme shared their viewpoints and experiences.