“According to the Hungarian Government’s standpoint, farmland is a finite natural treasure, the purchasing of which assumes a long-term commitment. Land should be acquired by people who want to farm it”, Minister of Agriculture Sándor Fazekas declared at the recent session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels.

EU land purchasing regulations and speculation with relation to land sales were placed on the Council’s agenda thanks to a Polish initiative, which was also supported by Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia. At the Council meeting, the Minister of Agriculture stressed: “Land purchasing must not be regarded in the same way as similar capital operations relating to other goods. Farmland is a finite resource that must be used for agricultural activities and not for other purposes”.

Also referring to the Brussels investigation into Hungary’s Land Trading Act, Mr. Fazekas pointed out that when evaluating the regulations of certain member states, Brussels is adopting a mistaken approach when it assesses them exclusively from a capital gains perspective. As he explained, similarly to water stocks, agricultural land is a natural treasure that deserves special protection.

(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office/MTI)