Agriculture Ministers from the countries of the European Union reached an agreement on Tuesday night regarding the reorganisation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), on the basis of which negotiations with the European Parliament may now begin. Minister of State of the Ministry of Rural Development György Czerván told Hungarian news agency MTI: we succeeded in asserting several Hungarian criteria, and Ireland, the current President of the EU, would like to conclude a final agreement on the issue before the end on June.

According to the Minister of State, it would be especially important to close negotiations between EU institutions as early as possible in view of the fact that the multiannual financial framework for the period 2014-2020 was only adopted in February, and as a result the system will only begin operating with a one-year delay as it is; 2014 will be a transitional year. However, the proposal on the details of the transitional period will only be published by the European Commission in April, said Mr. Czerván, adding that the currently applied SAPS funding system will remain in operation in Hungary, but using the figures adopted for the multiannual budget in February.

"The cake is getting smaller, but the size of Hungary's slice, i.e. our ratio of funding, has become larger", the Minster of State emphasised.

According to György Czerván, Hungary's standpoint at the negotiations, which lasted well into the night, was that direct payments should place special emphasis on "sensitive sectors" that do not currently receive special funding, such as cattle breeding, milk production, and the cultivation of fruit, vegetables and tobacco. Hungary argued that it should be possible to introduce differentiated funding within the new system, meaning that funding provided within the current system should remain in place in relation to sensitive sectors. The solution provided by the agreement reached overnight is that that Hungary would be able to freely use one fifth of all the funding it receives until 2018. The degree of production-related support that may be provided to these sectors may also increase from the current level of 3.5 percent to 12 percent.

Several individual requests from member states have also been included in the Council of Ministers' joint position, and accordingly several Hungarian criteria were also enforced successfully, the Minister of State continued, adding that success was achieved in simplifying the CAP's environmentally-related "greening" system, as in the fact that it should not decrease the competitiveness of the agriculture sector and member states should be given more flexibility. The Minister of State also mentioned that, with reference to compulsory crop diversification, there would be no requirements at all in the case of farmland under 10 hectares, it would be sufficient to cultivate two crops in areas between 10 and 30 hectares, and the production of three crops would only be compulsory in areas exceeding 30 hectares. "This is especially helpful to smaller-scale farmers", Mr. Czerván stressed.

According to the Minister of State, the most heated debate surrounded the issue of the designation of so-called ecological target areas. The Commission wanted to assign 7 percent of farmland to this purpose, which according to György Czerván would have been contradictory to objectives relating to the increase of food production. The position of the Council of Ministers now states that the ratio of such areas should be 5 percent from 2014, and this figure would be reviewed in 2017, said the Minister of State, adding that areas included in certified agro-environmental farming programmes would be exempt from "greening" requirements.

The Minister of State also said that the regulation of the sugar market was also an important issue for Hungary, and that Hungary had been against the termination of the sugar quota system in 2015. A compromise was achieved on this issue: the quota system would be abolished in 2017, and member states have until then to make the sector competitive enough for the market competition that will ensue once the quota system no longer exists, Mr. Czerván said, adding that Hungary would have liked to retain the sugar quota system and the related minimum price until 2020. "With regard to competitiveness, conditions differ within member states and Hungary is not in the most favourable geographical position; we are at a disadvantage when it comes to mechanisation, technical standards and irrigation opportunities", György Czerván stated. The Minister of State also said that the issue of the banning of nicotinoid insecticides had also been on the agenda. These chemicals are blamed for the mass deaths of honey bees.

"We have no such negative experiences", the Minister of State stresses, adding that Hungary is one of the EUs largest honey producers and so has a huge vested interest in the safety of bee colonies, and pointing out that the Hungarian National Apiculture Association had also not encountered any problems. He also stated that these insecticides could only be replaced by other chemicals which could potentially pose a greater threat, and stressed that if the instructions for the application of these insecticides are followed precisely, then cannot cause problems. Technological discipline has always been excellent in Hungary, the Minister of State said.

"We said that further impact assessments must be completed and all environmental and economic consequences must be determined before a decision may be reached which is truly substantiated. For the moment, we don't see the banning of these chemicals as justified", the Minister of State emphasised.

(MTI)