This year, it is expected that the rules for mandatory waste disposal will be eased

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In the difficult economic situation due to market disruptions due to Ukrainian imports and high input costs, our country will also take advantage of the opportunity to expand the production scope of farmers, announced Zsolt Feldman, the State Secretary responsible for agriculture and rural development of the Ministry of Agriculture. The essence of the contested derogation – the legal regulation of which was announced by the European Commission on Tuesday – is that it is sufficient for agricultural producers to designate only 4 percent of non-productive areas for their fields within the framework of regulation No. 8 of the HMKÁ, and they can fulfill this obligation even in full by using plant protection agents with nitrogen-fixing plants grown without or with second sowing – the state secretary emphasized.

This is the basis of regulation

Within the framework of the support period of the Common Agricultural Policy between 2023-2027, the regulations that help maintain the correct agricultural and environmental condition (HMKÁ) are mandatory for individual applicants for support. The European Commission’s decision on Tuesday enables easier fulfillment of HMKÁ regulation No. 8 of the conditionality system this year, which includes, among other things, the regulation on the minimum proportion of non-productive landscape elements and areas, as well as the requirement to preserve protected landscape elements. In practice, this means that farmers can comply with their obligation under the HMKÁ even without an area left fallow. Another relief is that the multiplier factor of 0.3, which was previously applied as a general rule for second seedings, has also been raised to 1 for this year, so there is no need to count on a larger area for second seeding.

Due to the basic requirements changed in this way, it is possible to adjust the appropriate field practices of the Agro-ecology Program (AÖP) this year

Therefore, the farmer who chooses to designate a certain proportion of the arable land in the AÖP as a non-productive area can use the possibility of derogation in the framework of HMKÁ regulation No. 8. – Despite the late decision in Brussels, the Ministry of Agriculture is committed to the application of the transitional rule that provides relief for farmers, so we will take advantage of the opportunity provided by EU law and make the necessary adjustments to our national legislation, which is essential for implementation. Of course, all of this is not a sufficient result in terms of reducing administrative burdens, so our country will use many new proposals in this area – stressed Zsolt Feldman.

AM