Hungary favours ‘more farmer-friendly’ CAP after 2020, says minister

Hungary’s interest lies in the introduction of a simpler, “more farmer-friendly” common agricultural policy (CAP) in the European Union beyond 2020, Sándor Fazekas, the agriculture minister, said in Brussels on Monday. 

It is in Hungary’s favour that the majority of member states agree on the need for an agricultural policy that allows easier access to EU funding but at the same time ensures constant food production, Fazekas told public media on the sidelines of a meeting with his EU counterparts. Such a policy must also enable the EU to adequately serve its export markets, the minister added.

On the topic of funds earmarked for the common agricultural policy, Fazekas said

it was important that member states should not be able to directly fund their own farmers using CAP monies. If wealthier member states did this, it would put poorer member states at a serious disadvantage, he argued.

Fazekas repeated the government’s position that member states should increase their contributions to the EU budget, including CAP payments. Hungary is ready to increase its contribution to the EU’s budget to 1.2 percent of its gross national income for the next funding cycle, he added.

The EU is set to complete preparatory work on a new common agricultural policy in March, Fazekas said.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI