‘Outdated, feudal agriculture’? EU and Hungary clash over the future of farming
The resources of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must be distributed more fairly so they are accessible for the most disadvantaged sectors and regions, Christophe Hansen, the European Commissioner for agriculture and food, said in Strasbourg on Thursday.
Speaking at a plenary discussion of the European Parliament on CAP’s future, Hansen said that in areas where livestock is the sole source of income, EU funding has a tangible added value. “Without agricultural activity, land abandonment will cause demographic, environmental and societal problems. In certain regions, we would even have a security problem…” such as in the Baltic states and Finland, he said, adding that agriculture there played a strategic role as well as an economic one.
He highlighted the importance of the EU’s cohesion policy as a means to ensuring “the right to stay”. “Investments in local infrastructure, transport, clean energy … broadband, health and education enhance economic and societal cohesion … by supporting what a community needs.”
The EC sees CAP and the EU’s cohesion policy as crucial to those aims, as well as to the EU’s food sovereignty, especially amid the current geopolitical tensions, he said. Farmers are active players in protecting the environment as well as in food production, Hansen said, calling for an EU policy equally supporting environmental and societal goals, and ensuring the development of rural areas.
He said CAP “helps provide a fair income for farmers, safe and affordable food for consumers and respect for the environment we work in”. “I fully agree that we need to maintain [CAP’s] coherent toolbox,” Hansen said. At the same time, he said “we need a CAP that is simpler and finds the right balance between incentives, investment and regulation and must ensure that farmers have a fair and sufficient income.”
With the CAP’s simplification package, “we have charted a way in that direction by streamlining overlapping requirements … and reducing red tape for our farmers and administrations,” he said, adding that he hoped that the EP would soon decide on the package so that “it can deliver for farmers already in the next calendar year.”
Further, “the midterm review of the cohesion policy provides incentives for objectives such as water resilience, housing, energy transition and greater competitiveness and innovation.” It must be ensured, however, that funding reaches those active in agriculture, he said.
In view of the climate and geopolitical challenges, the EU must also ensure a “safety net” for farmers “to alleviate the pressure and de-risk the operations of our farmers and food industry,” he said.
Péter Magyar’s remarks
Tisza MEP Péter Magyar said his party would only back proposals that promoted the development and sustainability of Hungarian agriculture. The only proposals they were ready to accept “help Hungarian farmers, ensure affordable and healthy food and provide an honest livelihood to farmers,” he said. He said his party expected the EU to protect Hungarian farmers from the influx of bad-quality, “often contaminated” foreign products.
Magyar slammed Hungary’s government, insisting it was operating an “outdated, feudal agriculture”. “A Tisza government will see the future in a 21st century, competitive and sustainable agriculture,” he said. The [current] government’s actions had had serious consequences, he said: “rural areas are hit by animal epidemics, lagging development in irrigation and grievous droughts, which pull the already ailing Hungarian economy further down”.
Fidesz MEP’s comments
MEP Csaba Dömötör of the ruling Fidesz party said the Politico website had raised the spectre of “brutal plans” with up to 20 percent cuts to farm subsidies “to cover the costs of Ukraine’s EU accession, as well as payments of miscalculated loans.” “Phrases such as targeted funding and fairness may sound good, but we all know this means many will lose out on the support they are currently receiving,” he said. He asked Hansen whether it was “true that they are planning austerity measures, and to what degree”.
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