Pan-European farmers’ demonstration against the withdrawal of EU agricultural subsidies

(Photo: Pixabay)

A large-scale joint demonstration was held in Brussels today with the participation of around 70 European agricultural interest groups, including the National Chamber of Agriculture and MAGOSZ, to protest against the planned withdrawal of Common Agricultural Policy funds. The flash action was organized by the farmer interest groups on the day of the EU budget conference. The aim of the demonstration was to draw the attention of the European Commission, European ministers, MEPs and the press to the importance of maintaining agricultural subsidies. The CAP is important not only for its historical significance, but is also vital today for ensuring food security, sustainability and affordability. According to the demonstration, without a clear and secure budget line to support European agriculture, the EU’s agricultural policy could collapse like a house of cards, which could destabilise rural regions, fragment the single market and jeopardise food supplies. Cutting the CAP budget is not just a technical issue. It is a political priority that will determine the future of Europe. Centralising budgetary resources and abolishing the two-pillar system would weaken the single market, deepen inequalities and seriously harm farmers and rural communities.

The demonstration was also attended by Zsolt György Papp, President of the Hungarian Agricultural Council, and András Cseh Tibor, Secretary General of MAGOSZ, Vice President of the Hungarian Agricultural Council

The Hungarian Agricultural Council and MAGOSZ consider it unacceptable that while the European Commission is planning a significant withdrawal of subsidies to farmers, the money thus reallocated would be given mostly to Ukraine. Ukrainian imports continue to put our markets under severe pressure, causing serious damage to Hungarian farmers, and Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the European Union would practically mean the end of traditional European agricultural production. Ukraine’s arable land is as large as one third of the entire Union’s land area. It follows that with its admission to the community, Ukraine would be the biggest beneficiary of EU agricultural subsidies, with Ukrainian agricultural actors able to pocket a third of the entire budget. However, with Ukraine’s accession, Hungarian farmers would not only lose subsidies, but the market would also be opened up to poor-quality Ukrainian products, posing a significant food safety risk. Expressing the protest of Hungarian farmers, MAGOSZ and the National Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) took the protest signatures of 250,000 Hungarian farmers to Brussels in early April, and they had previously held several protest actions with the agricultural chambers of the Visegrad countries.

NAK