Hungary’s agriculture ministry: CAP cuts ‘unacceptable’

The European Union budget for financing farm subsidies (Common Agricultural Policy – CAP) is too small, especially in light of proposals that would place extra burdens on farmers and introduce greater complexity into the system, agriculture ministry official has said.

Zsolt Feldman, the state secretary for farming, met EU counterparts in Sofia on Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that strategic planning, the proposed model for allocating grants, was incompatible with the logic of payments based on the area of farmland. The new model is likely to lead to an increase in administrative burdens both for member states and farmers, it added.

Feldman said

Hungary would oppose any proposal that further complicates the system, given that strenuous efforts have been made in recent years to simplify farm policy regulation and to provide farmers with a system of support.

It is already clear that the current level of support for subsidies for certain sectors — in particular dairy farmers, sheep and cattle farmers, and crop farmers — is under strain, the state secretary said.

Working with other EU member states, efforts will be made to preserve the current level of support in these areas.

Agriculture ministers also agreed to EU rotating president Bulgaria’s proposal on motivating the young generation of farmers to stick with their profession. Feldman said Hungary already promotes young farmers, but CAP should be directed towards broadening the types of support for them, the statement added.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI