The final session of the Agricultural and Fisheries Council during the Hungarian Presidency was held in Luxembourg, where Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki, Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Cioloş and Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli all judged the past six months as having been extremely successful. All three thanked the Hungarian Presidency for its conscientious and outstanding work.

Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas, chairing the Council, also expressed his satisfaction with the period in question when he stated: "during these six months Hungary has completed almost a whole year's worth of work within the field of agricultural policy."

The Hungarian Minister reminded those present that eight meetings of the Agricultural and Fisheries Council had been held over the six-month period, including an extraordinary meeting in early June.
We have also been working in advance today, with various topics on the agenda that are aimed at helping future work - Sándor Fazekas stated.

During the closing meeting, the Ministers discussed the Council's announcement on the future of the fishing industry. The member states agreed that fishing with the greatest sustainable output should be supported and this must include the consideration of scientific expert opinions.
They also determined that the reduction of overfishing in the interests of protecting fish stocks was highly important, but several delegation leaders judged the general level of 25% to be excessive.

Also on the agenda was the announcement on financial support after 2013 within the Common Fisheries Policy, which was signed by eight member states, including Hungary. The document includes recommendations on both enhancing freshwater aquacultures and regarding the reform of deep-sea fishing. Ministers at the meeting also discussed what could be done to combat the highly irresponsible mackerel fishing conducted by Iceland and the Faroe Islands, which is seriously endangering fish stocks. Several member states demanded serious and determined measures from the Council.

Agricultural topics included the Council announcement on the E.coli infection. The Ministers established that the crisis was handled quickly and effectively, but several member states feel that further measures are required. These include increasing the 210 million Euro assistance budget, the launching of a promotional campaign, and the Hungarian proposal that pickled gherkins should also be included within the range of supported products.

Following the meeting, Sándor Fazekas stated -- the status of vegetable markets in Europe seems to be stabilising, but it is also important that the Union should retain or if necessary reclaim its export markets.

Discussion of the EU Food Assistance Programme was included on the agenda at the request of Italy and Hungary. Issues regarding the future operation and financing of the programme lead to disagreement between member states and in addition, the European Council recently ruled that assistance may only be extended to surplus intervention stocks. This means that next year the available budget will drop to one fifth of the current level. The Hungarian Presidency is working so that the problems related to the programme may be solved as soon as possible -- said Sándor Fazekas. This is all the more important because the economic crisis and associated poverty has landed many families in serious difficulties throughout Europe.

During the meeting, France briefed the Council on the June meeting of G-20 Agricultural Ministers in Paris, where the leaders of the delegations discussed possible measures to curb extreme fluctuations in the price of agricultural products.

Sándor Fazekas views the tackling of these problems as being of extreme importance because, as he stated, the phenomenon is not just a danger to producers, but is also harmful to consumers.

At the end of the meeting, Sándor Fazekas symbolically handed over the Presidency to his Polish counterpart, wishing him much success for the upcoming sixth-month term in office.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)