The interests of Hungarian farmers were defended in Brussels by the NAK and MAGOSZ

By: STA Date: 2024. 12. 05. 10:00

Zsolt György Papp, President of the National Chamber of Agriculture, and Tibor Cseh, Secretary General of the Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Associations and Cooperatives, held talks in Brussels. During the talks, the leaders of the NAK and MAGOSZ were able to represent the interests of farmers with decisive force, thanks to the authorization received from Hungarian farmers, and emphasized that our country continues to reject the Strategic Dialogue that establishes the future of the CAP and stands in favor of preserving agricultural subsidies.

Zsolt György Papp, President of the National Chamber of Agriculture (NAK), and Tibor Cseh, Secretary General of the Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Associations and Cooperatives (MAGOSZ), have participated in several talks in Brussels in recent days. The petition entitled “Off with hands to agricultural subsidies” has been signed by more than 120,000 people so far, which meant a strong mandate for the Hungarian delegation during the negotiations. Zsolt György Papp and Tibor Cseh held discussions with Elli Tsiforou, the new Secretary General of COPA-COGECA, and the leaders of Eastern European farmer organizations. During the negotiations, they firmly represented the interests of Hungarian farmers and stood in favor of preserving agricultural subsidies. They stated that the Hungarian position remains unchanged, and that our country continues to reject the Strategic Dialogue that lays the foundation for the future of the CAP.

The new European Commission Commissioner for Agriculture also introduced himself at the COPA-COGECA presidency meeting

Christophe Hansen promised to take farmers’ suggestions into account when preparing the reform proposal for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, the new Commissioner made it clear that he intends to base the next period on the Strategic Dialogue. According to him, although he would like to rely on civil society organizations alongside farmers, he is trying to distance himself from the “dark green” ideology represented by his predecessors.

The leaders of NAK and MAGOSZ held separate consultations with Eastern European farmer organizations on the common position within COPA-COGECA

In addition to agricultural subsidies, the issue of Ukrainian import dumping was also prominent among the topics of the discussion. The farmer organizations agreed that it is in the common interest of Eastern European farmer organizations to end the Ukrainian import pressure. In addition to protecting the European market, the Western member states have also lined up alongside the Eastern countries: European citizens have the right to buy healthy, safe and community-produced goods from the shelves of shops.

NAK