Hungary will keep its self-imposed import ban in place as Brussels continues to consider Ukraine’s interests, Agriculture Minister István Nagy said Monday in a video posted on social media, ahead of a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council.
Regarding the situation on the agricultural market, the Minister indicated that instead of addressing the situation on the EU agricultural markets and the current problems of European farmers, the Danish Presidency is asking Member States for proposals on how to support Ukraine in complying with EU production standards. This comes shortly after the European Union agreed to extra high quotas at the Commission’s proposal during the adoption of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, he added.
István Nagy emphasized that there can be no question of Brussels supporting Ukraine at the expense of European and Hungarian farmers.
Instead, we should be talking about the impact that the 35,000 tons of honey coming in from Ukraine under the agreement will have on the EU beekeeping sector, or what the 120,000 tons of poultry will mean for the EU poultry sector, how EU grain producers will be able to cope with 1.3 million tons of wheat, and what the zero tariff on corn will mean for EU producers,”
he pointed out.
He added that he and his Slovak and Romanian counterparts will present to the Council their joint letter sent last week, in which they request special protection for farmers in border Member States against Ukrainian imports.
The Common Agricultural Policy after 2027, was also on the agenda, this time with environmental and climate protection rules. “As negotiations progress, it is becoming increasingly clear that the proposed structure will not work,” the Minister said. He believed that due to the proposed 20 percent reduction, there would not be enough resources to achieve the objectives, and the unified plan concept would be unworkable in the case of area- and animal-based measures, which operate according to a fundamentally different logic.
According to Minister Nagy, with this “irresponsible proposal,” Brussels is not only jeopardizing farmers’ livelihoods, but also food security.
The Common Agricultural Policy must be kept separate, “on a unified basis, with a separate budget, a two-pillar structure, and its own customized implementation and enforcement rules,”
he said.
The Minister also spoke about the Commission’s generational renewal strategy, describing it as an important document, since the aging of the farming community is an increasingly pressing issue in almost all Member States, and a solution must be found. He noted that this strategy also reflects Brussels’ “astonishing idea” that farmers receiving pensions should be deprived of basic support from 2032, which he called outrageous and said would be rejected.
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Via MTI, Featured image: Pixabay
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