Farmers must be put at the center of EU agricultural policy

In the spirit of competitiveness and crisis resistance, our country wants to place great emphasis on the fight against cross-border animal diseases (Photo: AM/Csaba Pelsőczy)

The minister drew attention to the fact that during the period of the next Common Agricultural Policy, the set of requirements for the agricultural sector must be defined in such a way that we know that European farmers provide essential public goods for all EU citizens by guaranteeing food security. Food sovereignty should be part of the strategic autonomy of the EU, he added. Among the objectives of the consecutive Hungarian EU presidency, the head of the ministry highlighted that the amendments to the regulation on common market organization and the new proposals to combat unfair cross-border trade practices will be considered as priorities. In the spirit of competitiveness and crisis resistance, our country wants to place great emphasis on the fight against cross-border animal diseases, including the preventive importance of vaccination. In addition, we are continuing the negotiations on legislative proposals regarding new gene management techniques, plant and forestry propagating materials, forest monitoring, the protection of animals during transport, and the welfare of dogs and cats – István Nagy listed. He explained that during the half term of the presidency, Hungary plans to pay attention to aquaculture in cooperation with the European Commission. Our country is convinced that we can only make progress in the development of this field at the European level, if we do not look at it as a separate sector, but approach the challenges in the way of development in an integrated manner with other specialized fields. We need to build a system that stands on several legs and is sustainable both economically and from an environmental and social point of view – emphasized the head of the agricultural ministry.

AM