A strong European agriculture is in the interest of all of us

(Photo: NAK/Zsolt Lévai)

The efficiency of EU agriculture, the survival of producers and food processors, and the profitability of its activities are in the interests of all EU citizens – this was stated at the large-scale international KAP Conference organized by the National Chamber of Agriculture in Budapest.

The event was attended by the most significant interest representatives of EU agriculture, representatives of around 50 organizations from 26 countries

As most of them emphasized, the Common Agricultural Policy must help producers’ competitiveness, especially with regard to the difficulties caused by climate change and the need to adapt to it. The participants agreed that the support conditions should pay more attention to the economics of production, in line with sustainability. There was also agreement that the entire food chain should be handled as a unit when thinking and planning about the CAP. Also, the farming community is aging throughout Europe, so great emphasis must be placed on generational change, to help the transfer of the economy within the family and to attract young people to the sector.

Financial resources must also be provided for this

The farmers’ demonstrations that took place in many countries this year – from France to Germany to Romania – clearly showed the dissatisfaction of the actors of agriculture with the directions of agricultural policy. Since then, EU decision-makers have taken only apparent measures, but further changes and a radical transformation of the CAP are essential. All this is not only in the interest of the producers, but also of the 450 million EU citizens and consumers, and the cooperation of the agricultural advocacy organizations is also necessary to achieve this.

NAK