This morning, the Minister reported on the work of the Ministry before the Sustainable Development Committee and the Agriculture Committee.

Sustainable Development Committee

At the Tuesday session of Parliament's Sustainable Development Committee, the Minister for Rural Development state: he supports the reorganisation of water management, which has practical motives. He stressed: the measures are made necessary by the launching of the Start work programme, and a comprehensive public services program can only be useful, if the organisational, staffing and financial requirements are all available in one place. He added: the goal is to achieve tangible results in the field of inland flood and inundation protection.

During the usual annual committee hearing, the Minister noted with reference to the reorganisation that the water management profession and the performance of legislative and diplomatic responsibilities continue to fall under the sphere or operations of the Ministry of Rural Development.

Reporting on the activities of the Ministry, Sándor Fazekas stressed: Hungarian environmental protection and conservation had never been at the centre of European attention to the extent that they had been during the Hungarian Presidency of the EU. Of the numerous Hungarian achievements, he mentioned the fact that the directive on waste from electric and electronic devices had been closed successfully with a full consensus.

On the topic of conservation, he emphasised, among other achievements, that the main requirements of land management had been included in legislation, had continued to catalogue and register natural treasures, and had begun the comprehensive review of the national registry of areas that fall under the protection of local conservation authorities.

With regard to the environment, the Minister emphasised that the Ministry had developed a national environmental innovative strategy, which the Government had adopted, and that the cabinet had also decided on an inter-sector programme of measures to reduce levels of particulate matter (dust) in the air.

He also mentioned that the National Waste Management Agency had been formed on September 1, whose responsibility, among other things, is to facilitate compliance with environmental regulations. The Ministry hopes to put the draft of the Waste Management Act before Parliament by the end of October.

In reply to a question, the Minister stressed that communication with green organisations is continuous. 140 million Forints have been approved for the support of non-governmental organisations so far this year, which will be transferred within the next ten days.

With regard to land owned by the National Land Fund (NFA), the Minister stated that the land registry had been purposefully "mixed up" during the previous three governments, to make it simpler to hide illegal or unethical land use and allocation. The situation is being rectified and today, state-owned land comprises around 2 million hectares, of which 925 thousand hectares are forest, and around 1 million hectares are arable land, meadows, vineyards and fruit orchards.

The Minister for Rural Development also reported on the fact that a workgroup and the Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) had jointly began preparations for the creation of the so-called "Green Bank", known also as the Agrárbank ("AgriBank"). (The bank will provide loans and support for environment-related investments, such as installing insulation, energy-efficient windows, and solar-powered water-heating systems. Ed.).

Agriculture Committee

Now speaking before Parliament's Agriculture Committee, the Minister emphasised that gross agricultural production had increased by 10 percent compared to the previous year, hitting 1800 billion Forints. In addition, this result was achieved despite adverse natural and environmental conditions, which caused production losses.

He also reminded those present of the fact that agriculture had produced a 2.1 billion Euro export surplus last year. This contributed significantly – 38 percent – to improving the national economy's foreign trade surplus in 2010.

Mr. Fazekas added, the Ministry had paid out 533.5 billion Forints in support, more than the 469 billion Forints originally proposed. Farmers received 46 thousand Forints in hectare-based support last year, and the figure this year is 56-57 thousand Forints, an increase of over 20 percent.

Sándor Fazekas rated the role of the sector's activities in the work of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU earlier in the year as having been a success. He emphasised the Hungarian contribution towards the development of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and mentioned as an example the handling of the GMO contamination issue.

He also spoke about the fact that one of the ministry's prime goals is for the agricultural sector to produce highly processed, competitive foods in Hungary. The Ministry wished to facilitate this last year, when it offered several types of credit for farmers in cooperation with the MFB.

The Minister went on to specifically emphasise that the development of the National Rural Strategy is aimed at opening up new, long-term opportunities in agriculture and rural development for both the sector and the people working within it. He added, the Ministry had successfully stabilised the state of the animal husbandry sector. He mentioned as examples the opening up of internal markets and increased accessibility for farmers within the public catering sector, and also the possibility that so-called slaughter spots may be reopened, as well as the fact that secondary food monitoring has been made universal. The Minister also stressed: with regard to direct support payments, it was a good decision not to have switched to the SPS system, because the support system will be transformed totally in 2014, and the move to the alternative system would have meant billions of Forints in unnecessary expenditure.

Sándor Fazekas also stated that the debate on the Common Agricultural Policy reform package would begin in Brussels on October 20, where he would be informing the assembled ministers of the member states about Hungary's standpoint on various issues included in the CAP.

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