The leaders of several of Europe's Chambers of Agriculture are exchanging views on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy between 2014 and 2020 at the Visegrád Group (V4) nations' chamber of agriculture summit in Budapest.

The Chamber of Agriculture summit may help ensure that the CAP system should not be overcomplicated following the reforms, that farmers will have easy access to funding, and that the European Union's agricultural policy continues to provide security, said Zsolt Feldman, Under Secretary for Agricultural Economy of the Ministry of Rural Development.

The V4 nations – the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – will be represented at the two-day forum, but delegations from the chambers of commerce of the Baltic States, Romania and Croatia will also be present.

The Under Secretary added: Hungary would like to retain the current level of direct support. This is a realistic goal, as it is also mirrored by the proposal of the European Commission. Zsolt Feldman pointed out that the success of the "greening" of the CAP also basically depends on whether the new regulations are easy to implement, and the level of bureaucracy decreases.

Wiktor Szmulewicz, Polish Vice-President of the European farmers' organisation COPA, indicated: he expects difficult and long discussions with regard to the reform of the CAP, because issues regarding the Common Agricultural Policy are complicated because of the current situation, the economic crisis – he added.

The protection of the European internal market is important, as is the winning over of consumers to European products and the motivation of investors in the agricultural sector. In the interests of the above, we must continue to provide the funds required for the operation of the CAP, and reduce the differences in levels of support between old and new member nations, added the Vice-President.

Géza Poprády, Ministerial Commissioner of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, stated: the leaders of the chambers of agriculture have been invited to take part in these discussions so that they might become acquainted with national views and opinions regarding the new CAP, and so that a common policy may be adopted in future. The Ministerial Commissioner asked that the participants of the summit be open and perform continuous consultation.

Géza Poprády reminded those present that the standpoint of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture with regard to its view of the new CAP is concordant with that of the government. The most important task is the simplification of the CAP, the preservation of the real value of resources, and the support of active agricultural producers.

(MTI, Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)