At the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels, Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas requested that emergency aid be transferred from the European Union Solidarity Fund for the mitigation of drought damage. The Minister also proposed the simplification and if possible temporary waiving of agricultural-environmental regulations, in addition to suggesting that 80 percent of 2013 direct funding should be payable in advance instead of the current 50 percent.

Sándor Fazekas reported to the Council that Hungarian agriculture is suffering from extreme lack of rainfall, as a result of which forty percent less corn and roughly half the amount of forage crops have been cultivated compared to last year. This affects the income of farmers to an extraordinary extent, especially those who keep animals, he informed them.

"The Ministry of Rural Development's most important task in this difficult situation is to provide fast and efficient help", announced Sándor Fazekas, who viewed the fact that the agriculture council dealt with the issue in "exhaustive detail" as a success for agrarian diplomacy.

"Damage to farmers is quite catastrophic, and not only in Hungary, but throughout the whole Southern European region; so this drought affects half the European Union", explained the Minister.

At the meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels on Monday, Sándor Fazekas suggested that 80 percent of 2013 direct funding should be payable in advance instead of the current 50 percent. According to the Minister, a decision on this issue may be brought within a few weeks.

The Minister also proposed the simplification and if possible temporary waiving of agricultural-environmental regulations, for example within the field of grazing times and periods. This means that grazing would be possible for the remainder of the year, which is otherwise closed season.

Sándor Fazekas also requested that the European Union investigate the possibility of transferring emergency aid from the European Union Solidarity Fund for the mitigation of drought damage. According to the Minister, similar emergency aid has already been provided in the case of Cyprus. In closing, the Minister also stated that Hungary is strongly in favour of the setting up of an "operative and sufficiently flexible" EU agricultural crisis fund.

According to the Minister, several of his EU colleagues voiced their support during their own speeches, and there will be further discussions with the European Commission next week; analysis of the state of the market will commence, including the exploration of which European Union instruments and mechanisms may be suitable for providing help. Sándor Fazekas estimates that the issue of what aid Hungary and the other EU member states affected by the drought may receive from the European Union will be decided within roughly two months.

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