“A Common Agricultural Policy that allows for both subsidies to replace income and enble the realisation of investments by farmers, and is properly financed, is needed after 2020”, head of the Hungarian delegation Zsolt Feldman said following an informal meeting of European Union agriculture ministers Austria on Tuesday.

Invited by the Minister for Agriculture of Austria, the current chair of the Council of the European Union, the agriculture ministers of EU member states held consultations at Schloss Hof in Lower Austria. Topics discussed included the ongoing reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), including the development of rural areas and ensuring safe and high-quality food production.

Sustaining the European agricultural model, which relies on family farms, requires predictability and an increase in, and the stabilisation and growth of the income derived from agricultural production. This requires subsidies to replace income, support for investments to enhance competitiveness, and instruments that serve to strengthen producer collaborations that improve market positions, the Minster of State for Agriculture emphasised.

The most important task in discussions concerning the Common Agricultural Policy is to make sure that the aspects of environmental and climate protection, which appear with an increasing importance, are reflected in regulations in a manner that allows for implementation in practice. Achieving a set of rules in the negotiation process that are simple and easy to implement, and which are transparent for both small and medium-sized enterprises, remains a priority for the Government of Hungary.

The decision on the European Union’s seven-year budget including the funds that may be spent on the Common Agricultural Policy will be made by the heads of state and government of the Member States, while policy issues relating to the CAP will be decided by the EU’s agriculture ministers.

(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office)