"We have held extremely successful talks with the Irish Minister on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy; the two countries are in agreement on most issues", said Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas following his meeting in Budapest with Irish Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Simon Coveney.

"The Irish Presidency of the European Union scheduled for the first half of 2013 will play a significant role in finalising the new CAP from 2014, and so it is especially important that we become acquainted with the viewpoints of the member states", said Simon Coveney during his meeting with his Hungarian counterpart.

Both ministers stressed that a strong Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is still needed in the future, and that it is also of great importance that the budget assigned for the CAP, including the sum of support paid out to farmers, should not decrease. "More effort should be taken to simplify and rationalise the CAP, because we feel that an overly complicated system is taking form based on the Commissions recommendation", said Sándor Fazekas.

The two ministers are committed to the elaboration of a support system which is acceptable to both old and new member states.

"According to current plans, the sum of direct support payments available in Hungary (Pillar 1) is not expected to drop, but funding for rural development would decrease by 10%, and this is unacceptable for Hungary", Sándor Fazekas pointed out.

One of Hungary's priority goals is the simplification of the support system for small farms, and issue that Ireland also accepts, but would prefer to leave the decision on this issue to the member states.

The two ministers agreed that the emphasised support of young farmers is indispensable both for the future of member states and of the whole European Union. According to the Hungarian standpoint, all young farmers should have funds made available and not just those that are just starting out in agriculture.

Theoretically, both countries agree with the greening of the CAP, but stress that they find certain concrete recommendations too strict, such as the regulations regarding the compulsory maintenance of a permanent pasture, and the requirement to cultivate at least three types of crops above a certain territory size. According to the Hungarian standpoint, the ecological target area ratio of 7% is also too high.

Simon Coveney stressed that a practical and realistic solution must be found so that valuable farmland is not removed from agricultural production. The two ministers called the level of sanctions against farmers who do not perform greening excessive.

With relation to its sensitive sectors Hungary needs production-based support, which it plans to increase and expand to include the pork, poultry and tobacco sectors. Ireland is prepared to earmark 5% to support this goal, but is prepared to agree on a compromise solution.

The two ministers also agreed to hold detailed professional discussions in future on issues related to the EU Fisheries Policy.

At the end of the meeting, Sándor Fazekas wished his Irish counterpart a successful and productive Presidency and expressed his hope that excellent Hungarian wines would also be available at Irish presidential events.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)