Everyone can be a winner of the new Common Agricultural Policy

Our country has reached a good compromise with the Commission of the European Union regarding the distribution of the funds coming to our country in the next period of the Common Agricultural Policy, and the terms of payment. Taking advantage of the opportunities, everyone can be a winner of the new agricultural support system – Zsolt Feldman, at the Agricultural Sector 2022 conference, evaluated the results of the negotiations of the past year and a half.

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The Secretary of State responsible for agriculture and rural development of the Ministry of Agriculture called the ideas of the Hungarian negotiators ambitious at the round table discussion on the topic. As he said, after numerous professional consultations, with the interests of Hungarian farmers in mind, it was possible to reach an agreement with the European Commission on the Hungarian strategic framework of the Common Agricultural Policy. The goal was to strike a balance between environmental expectations and competitiveness aspects. We were able to achieve all of this in such a way that the magnitude of direct subsidies for the income security of Hungarian farmers – thanks to the 80 percent national additional funding provided for rural development resources – did not decrease, while the budget of the Common Agricultural Policy decreased overall at the EU level – reminded Zsolt Feldman.

Such changes are expected

The participants of the round table mentioned that a new form of support, the redistributive support, will become available to small and medium-sized economies as one of the significant changes of the new cycle starting in 2023. Based on these, up to the first 10 hectares, an additional subsidy of 80 euros will be expected, and between 11 and 150 hectares, 40 euros in addition to the basic subsidy of approximately 147 euros. In the new support system that is starting now, a lot depends on the individual decisions of the farmers, what they undertake and in what direction they move based on their farming opportunities, practice and ambitions, said the state secretary. As a result of the new EU regulations and the expectations of the European Commission, the environmental requirements related to the basic support are further strengthened, and the rules regarding non-productive areas, crop rotation and soil protection are also changing. Zsolt Feldman emphasized that in the case of the Agricultural Ecology Program, which goes beyond these regulations and carries the possibility of significant additional support per hectare, the farmer can decide whether to participate or not, but it must be carefully considered in order to make the right decision. The Ministry of Agriculture is now working to ensure that implementing legislation containing precise and detailed rules for applying for subsidies is prepared as soon as possible so that everyone is aware of their options and obligations by the time the unified application is submitted next spring. Therefore, farmers are helped in their preparation through forums, online and printed information, the Ministry of Agriculture will also launch a new website with as much information as possible, and the involvement of village farmers is also an important tool in making the new rules known.

At the event, the Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture in charge of agriculture assessed the Rural Development Program as effective.

He indicated that farmers could choose from around a hundred tenders, several of which are still open. As an example, Anikó Juhász mentioned the animal welfare subsidy for poultry, for which subsidy requests can be submitted until December 15 of this year. In addition, applications can be submitted until June 30, 2023, for the development of the agricultural and water management sectors, as well as for the support of the cooperation of irrigation communities. The forestry tenders will be open until the end of this year, and the tender for the development of small settlements will be open until June 5, 2023. The deputy state secretary now called the most important task the preparation of executive decrees as quickly as possible and the preparation of the network of institutions serving farmers.

AM