President of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture: The European Commission is making European agricultural production impossible

Zsolt Papp explained: they organized a joint demonstration with the V4 countries, supplemented by representatives of the Austrian chamber, because they stood together for the common issues that make farmers’ lives most difficult. The French, Spanish, Romanian and Bulgarian farmer organizations also provided their support for the demonstration. The demonstration was organized on the Czech-Slovak border, where farmers marched with hundreds of tractors, while at the same time there were demonstrations in 4-5 places in the Czech Republic. The president called the vision of the future of agriculture published by the new EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, the biggest problem. The published document lacks any concrete details, “we do not see the basis for the next common agricultural policy”, which creates uncertainty – he underlined, emphasizing: our job is to stand up and protect the resources that are due not only to the Hungarian, but also to the European farming community. The common aspiration was that every farmer should receive the support they are entitled to. They are not asking for money from the common fund that would eliminate the independent support fund of the common agricultural policy and would bring all EU funds into a common pool, because this would certainly result in a loss of resources – he said.

According to his statement, the issue of free trade agreements received special attention

The commission applies double standards: it explains how to reduce animal husbandry in the future, how to farm greener, in line with strict regulations. On the other hand, trade agreements are being concluded that do not create a level playing field and put Europe, including the Hungarian farming community, at a competitive disadvantage. EU farmers comply with animal health and plant health regulations and make every effort to comply with food safety regulations to produce high-quality food. With the EU-Mercosur (South American Common Market-Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and other countries) trade agreement, agricultural products from the region that do not meet EU environmental and quality standards are expected to enter the common EU market, while companies there benefit from lower energy and labor costs. Representatives of the V4+ agricultural chambers are therefore calling for the introduction of protective mechanisms in the interests of European farmers. The agricultural chambers of the V4+ countries are ready to take joint action regarding the threat posed by the EU-Mercosur trade agreement and the liberalization of trade with Ukraine, Zsolt Papp informed. He indicated that Ukrainian imports are also creating a difficult situation, and the Commission’s temporary measure, which set a framework for goods coming from Ukraine, expires on June 5, 2025. Compared to the situation in 2020, the volume of plant products imported from Ukraine has currently increased 30 times, and that of processed products has also increased several times, all of which “is crowding out the European market,” he said. Ukraine’s accession to the European Union could have serious, irreversible consequences; the move would make EU agricultural production impossible and would deprive member states, including Hungary, and Hungarian farmers of a significant part of European Union agricultural subsidies. He pointed out: Ukraine’s accession would also have a serious impact on the European Union’s common agricultural policy, with 41 million hectares of agricultural land in Ukraine. The European area currently eligible for support of 157 million hectares would be expanded by 41 million hectares with Ukraine. The stakes are therefore not small: with its accession, Ukraine would become the largest beneficiary of agricultural resources, the country would pocket about a third of the entire CAP budget from the common fund, thereby undermining EU farmers, including Hungarian producers, who have been adhering to strict EU regulations for many years. He also said that if they cannot reach an agreement with the European Commission and do not take the farmers’ requests into account, the current demonstration will continue.

MTI