Topics of discussion at the 10th Session of the French-Hungarian Agriculture and Rural Development Workgroup in Paris included the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and opportunities for important bilateral cooperation. Communiqué.

The Workgroup rated the political agreement on the European Union's budget for the upcoming financial period 2014-2020, agreed on last week in Brussels, as acceptable. However, both parties stressed that less funding will be available to agriculture in comparison to the current period, and so we must sure that every single euro cent reaches farmers. An easily executed EU agricultural policy is required, which cannot lead to an increase in on the financial and administrative burden on farmers.

The participants agreed that a suitable transition to the new system must be achieved in 2014, and to current funding opportunities, such as temporary national funding or previously earmarked monies, should be retained until the introduction of the new agricultural policy.

Both countries are satisfied with the preservation of grapevine cultivation rights and aim to retain the sugar quota system until 2020. The parties also agreed that greening must not go hand-in-hand with measures that increase the financial and administrative burdens on farmers, and that greater flexibility must be afforded to member states to ensure execution that conforms to regional characteristics. In accordance with the objectives determined by the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) agreement, the minimum possible agricultural land should be removed from cultivation.

Increasing the efficiency of irrigation is especially significant in the current dry weather conditions. According to the Hungarian standpoint, we must aim to have every forest, including state-owned forests, receive forestry funding in the interests of realising European environmental and climate protection objectives.

The international LEADER fund enables more innovative cooperation agreements to come about between the two countries' action groups.

An excellent example of the strengthening of organic farming, which are extremely significant from an agricultural conservation and sustainable development perspective, is the new French agro-ecological programme.

The French negotiating partners confirmed that they are willing to share their experiences within the field of ecological farming, as well as with regard to medicinal plant cultivation, small-scale cheese processing, village tourism, local products and local markets, trademarks, direct marketing, the utilisation of bioenergy, wine production and origin protection. The traditionally important areas of cooperation between the two countries include agrarian training, higher education and agricultural research. Hungary's inclusion in the treaty of the CGIAR consortium for international agricultural research, based in Montpellier, is expected to open even greater opportunities in future.

The Hungarian Co-Chairman of the Session was Deputy State Secretary for Rural Development Lajos Búsi, while the French delegation was headed by Eric Allain, Director General for Agricultural Policy, Agrarian and Food Industry and Rural Areas.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)