On 14 December 2015, EU Ministers of Agriculture met in Brussels to discuss the strategic directions of agricultural research and innovation and the related framework programme. The Hungarian delegation was led by Deputy Secretary of State for Agricultural Economy Dr. Zsolt Feldman.

The issue was placed on the agenda by the Presidency following the publication of 2015 report by the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR). The aim of the framework programme is to create a more innovative economic structure that leads to lower emissions and uniformly handles demand for sustainable agriculture, fisheries and food safety, and for the sustainable industrial utilisation of biological resources, while also protecting biological diversity.

The Directorate-General for Agricultural and Rural Development has developed a long-term strategy with relation to the abovementioned report. The realisation of the strategy is supported by a two-year EU framework programme for 2016-2017. The programme, which was published in October 2015, includes tenders relating to four topics: sustainable food safety, the revival of rural areas, biomass-based innovation and sea-related sustainable economic development.

The Hungarian Government is playing special emphasis on agricultural research and innovation policy, Mr. Feldman said. Hungarian universities, research institutes and farmers have participated in a host of workshops and conferences, and have accordingly been involved in successfully identifying strategically important areas.  Several such areas of interest are important not only to Hungary, but also to several other countries of the Central and Eastern European region. For this reason, Deputy State Secretary Zsolt Feldman urged tight cooperation between the Visegrád countries and other countries of the region to achieve the most efficient possible application of EU opportunities.

(Ministry of Agriculture)