“Without cooperation and solidarity between the Member States of the European Union, crises that appear at a global level cannot be handled”, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture said at a meeting of Visegrád Group agriculture ministers.

At the summit in Jasionka, Poland, István Nagy stressed that the forming of alliances at E level is a fundamental and vital step towards the creation of a flexible and strong Europe.

The Deputy Minister highlighted the fact that Hungary’s goal is ensure that the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) continues to serve farmers following 2020. “We also need a strong, two-pillar CAP following 2020, which has a high enough budget and in which the role of direct payments is not diminished”, he added. Mr. Nagy stressed that in addition, Hungary feels it is important to maintain a strong safety net in view of the fact that in recent years worsening market conditions have led to increasing price fluctuations in several sectors of agriculture, and this could lead to severe fluctuations in revenue.

“Improving the status of farmers within the food chain can be achieved through the adoption of joint EU framework regulations on unfair trade practices, which must be in harmony with existing Member State regulations”, he declared.

The Visegrád Group (V4), and its expanded form, is extremely important to Hungary. Hungary shares many common interests and goals with the countries involved, including the retention of production-linked funding, and accordingly we would like to maintain a strong alliance of interests.

(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office)