Consultation on Rural Development Co-operation in the Carpathian Basin

As part of the National Rural Strategy – 2020 consultation series, discussions were held for the first time today regarding the national Carpathian Basin Rural Development Co-operation programme.

Experts and politicians from Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia and the Ukraine, as well as leading Hungarian lawmakers and representatives of the government, were invited to attend the consultation, which was held at the Ministry of Rural Development. At the end of the meeting, the participants voted to accept a joint statement.

The territory inhabited by the Hungarian People cannot be regarded as being enclosed by borders; we are connected by numerous bonds. The successful future of people living and working in the country and the advancement of the development of these regions can be achieved throughout the Carpathian Basin based on uniform guiding principles.

The economic power of the territories inhabited by Hungarian communities cannot be separated from each other: we must think of them as being part of the same market and a single network. The harmonisation of regional and rural development projects, regional co-operation and the building of links between the home country, Hungarian farmers living abroad and their counterparts from other nations, all contribute to a common solution.

Sustainability, partnership and a spirit of community are also needed within the field of rural development. It is for this reason that the new national policy thinks in terms of the widest possible partnerships with regard to the formulation of strategies, assistance policy, and on the level of both local communities and individuals.

These intentions are mirrored by the steps taken thus far by the Hungarian Government: the introduction of the simplified naturalisation system, the passing of legislation that fully supports National Solidarity, a revised assistance policy and the reconvening of the Hungarian Permanent Conference.

It is in the sprit of this new national politics concept that a conference was organised for the Hungarian organisations and farmers' representative associations of the Carpathian Basin on June 7 2011 in the Ministry of Rural Development within the framework of the National Rural Strategy Concept – 2020 consultation series.

The goal of the meeting was to prepare for the joint elaboration of the “Carpathian Basin Rural Development Co-operation” national programme for the period leading up to 2020, and the creation of a national rural development strategy that conforms to common European rural development policy and influences its future development with its own resources in such a way as to serve the interests of every Hungarian farmer in the Carpathian Basin to an equal extent. The participants of the conference declared that it is within this framework that they wish to prepare the series of consultations, the goal of which is to work out and set up the common Carpathian Basin national rural development programme.

The main target territories of the cross-border strategic co-operation are the development of the rural economy, job creation, environmental and landscape protection, food autonomy, local food processing and markets, as well as the reanimation of the animal husbandry sector and the reversal of the depopulation of small townships. For this to succeed it is essential that small and medium-sized farms that are (also) disappearing in the Carpathian Basin region are assisted in once again playing an important role, cooperating and forming associations. To this end, we must also ensure that land ownership politics and systems of assistance are reviewed, that the foundations of the rural economy are strengthened, and that agricultural and rural policy is developed that forms the basis of a rural life that is also attractive to the young.

At the Budapest meeting, following a speech by following a speech by State Secretary for Hungarian Communities Abroad Zsuzsanna Répás on the framework of national politics and a lecture by Deputy Speaker of Parliament István Jakab on co-operation between farmers in the Carpathian Basin, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development József Ángyán presented the main elements of the National Rural Strategy Concept – 2020 submitted for consultation, to which the representatives of the associate ministries then added their opinions and explained their ideas, followed by the transborder Hungarian organisations and farmers' interest groups.

Delegates from the seven neighbouring countries expressed their intent to enter into co-operation to work out the Carpathian Basin Rural Development Co-operation Programme, as well as their willingness to continue the series of consultations including input from further transborder Hungarian organisations and the Government.