“EU member states must find a common denominator with relation to the Common Agricultural Policy, and this is also in Hungary’s fundamental interests. The future of Hungarian agriculture is to a great extent dependent on whether we succeed in coming to an agreement on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) following 2020”, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Sándor Fazekas said on Karc FM radio’s morning program following talks in the Czech Republic.
In his statement following negotiations with Czech Minister of Agriculture Marian Jurečka , Mr. Fazekas said it was important for the countries of the Visegrád Group (V4) to act together in the interests of the distribution of agriculture funding during negotiations on the future of the CAP. “Both Hungary and the Czech Republic agree that these monies must continue to go to farmers and must not be allowed to be reallocated to handle the migration crisis”, the Minister said. “We cannot support immigration policy being solved at the expense of farmers and food production”, he said. “Everyone must be of the fact that agricultural funding is received by farmers, but it is the food-consuming public who benefits. In other words, if the level of founding decreases, then it will cost farmers more to produce food, making it more expensive and paving the way for the appearance of lower quality imported products on the market”, he explained.
The two ministers also discussed unfair market practices and the unfortunate presence of dual quality foods in the Central and Eastern European market. Multinational companies often market poorer quality foods in Eastern Europe than they do in Western Europe. Mr. Fazekas told the press that the Czech authorities are currently conducting a comparative investigation into the contents and quality of various foods from five countries – Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The results will be published in two weeks’ time. A similar, comprehensive investigation of 30-35 product pairs is also being conducted in Hungary by the National Food Chain Safety Office (NFCSO), this time concerning beer, ice cream, soft drinks and various condiments. “The EU must introduce legislation on this issue in the interests of protecting both consumers and producers and ensuring that only the best quality foods reach people’s tables as affordable prices”, Mr. Fazekas said.
The countries of the Visegrád region could have a strong voice in negotiations concerning the new CAP. According to the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, we must gather our allies and find a way of preventing the level of funding from being reduced if possible. “We need a properly financed and dependable agricultural policy, and agricultural policy that is farmer-friendly and requires less administration”, he said. Mr. Fazekas said there is a need for greening and an environmentally friendly agriculture, and sustainable agricultural production is in our fundamental interests, because we would all like our children, grandchildren and the upcoming generations to grow up in a clean environment and consume good quality foods. “We must, however, find a balance between economically sound production, environmental protection goals, monitoring, the transparency of funding and more flexible administrative solutions”, the Minister of Agriculture argued.