The 25-year-old Hungarian-Slovak Agricultural Working Group met in Budapest

(Photo: AM/Csaba Pelsőczy)

At the bilateral meeting, our country was represented by Zsolt Feldman, State Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, while Slovakia was represented by Vladimír Vnuk, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The two member states act together on many issues in the European Union forums to protect the interests of agricultural producers, the parties also consider agriculture as a national strategic sector.

Priority topics on the working group’s agenda were the efforts to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy and the expectations related to their national application

As a result of the European farmers’ protests, although the EU decision-making institutions implemented simplifications in the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy with the aim of reducing the burden on farmers, from the farmers’ point of view, further EU work is definitely needed in this area. The Hungarian EU presidency in 2024 is an excellent opportunity for the member states to formulate a common position as clear as possible to alleviate the conditions that make farming difficult for agricultural producers and thereby reduce their administrative obligations.

The parties discussed the grain market situation, which also seriously affects the two nations, evaluating the effects of EU and national market measures related to the import of Ukrainian grain

Among other things, they also agreed that in the future they should continue to play an active role in the operation of the BIOEAST initiative, which provides a common research and innovation strategic framework for Central and Eastern Europe. This is why our country is planning two events on the topic this year, as the Hungarian EU presidency provides a favorable opportunity to enhance BIOEAST’s European role. Both Hungary and Slovakia are committed to strengthening knowledge-based, sustainable and farmer-friendly agriculture, since agriculture is an important pillar of economic and social competitiveness. The inter-ministerial working group for discussing the most important challenges affecting agriculture was established in June 1999, exactly 25 years ago, with the aim of giving the two neighboring countries the opportunity to consult and exchange information on current issues at the government and expert level.

AM