Sándor Farkas: area-based support should remain in the seven-year EU budget after 2028

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Speaking to Hungarian journalists after the meeting of the agricultural ministers of the EU member states, Sándor Farkas informed that the relevant EU proposal does not clearly define, and “in fact, leaves serious uncertainty” by not distinguishing the two forms of support in the EU budget. The State Secretary emphasized: Hungary would like – since every Hungarian farmer has an interest in this – for these supports to be separated in the EU budget and to remain. Maintaining area-based support would mean a predictable, secure future for every Hungarian farmer and Hungarian agriculture, while the rural development program would improve the opportunities of those living in the countryside, he said. “We want to ensure that every Hungarian farmer can continue to develop not only until 2027, but also after that,” he said, adding that predictable conditions must be created for farmers in Hungarian agriculture that guarantee a secure career in order to maintain the rural capacity, for people living in the countryside to find their way, and for them to be able to combine this with efficient agricultural cultivation to ensure safe, predictable food production. “Today, Hungary has the conditions to produce safe food, but we still have some shortcomings in terms of efficiency. We want to make up for this and ensure that we can guarantee safe, predictable food for more than twenty million people by 2030, but no later than 2032,” he said. The conditions for this are now in danger, the State Secretary pointed out. “We are working, we are fighting, and we want to ensure that farmers are not the victims of disadvantageous EU measures,” he said.

Regarding the market situation, Sándor Farkas said: the Ukrainian crisis has caused problems in Hungarian agriculture as well, and difficulties in the EU’s internal market

Hungary would like to prevent goods from entering the EU that would damage internal markets and export markets. Hungary is doing everything it can to ensure that the EU extends the conditions for the import ban on Ukrainian agricultural products, which expire in June. Hungary is confident that the situation will be resolved and that the Hungarian market will not be destroyed by Ukrainian products, he underlined. The State Secretary also drew attention to the fact that Ukraine does not have such strict production conditions as those in the European Union. “We would like to avoid food produced under uncertain production conditions from reaching our shelves,” he said. Finally, Sándor Farkas expressed his hope that the political settlement ending the war in Ukraine will also make the agricultural situation stable and secure.

MTI