Farmer protests against the CAP reform

Magosz President István Jakab explained the background to the petition at a joint press conference with the NAK Chamber of Agriculture in Zalaegerszeg on Tuesday. ‘French farmers are already on the streets, because the plans of the EU centre affect all European farmers!’ In Hungary, there is a consensus among all market players to work together to preserve the proven system of normatively calculated subsidies. Less bureaucracy and better opportunities for EU farmers on international markets are desirable.

Massive criticism of strategy paper

The draft report on the strategic dialogue of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) published by the EU Commission in response to last year’s farmers‘ protests is a “collection of slogans”, some of which are a hidden threat to farmers’ livelihoods, the Magosz President is convinced. The study drawn up by ‘non-experts’ wants to base future payments on income and the rule of law (!) and no longer on area. The Hungarian lobby, together with the European farmers’ associations, is therefore calling on the EU Commission to abandon this plan and enter into a meaningful dialogue. Full membership of Ukraine in the EU under the conditions of the strategy paper would jeopardise the existence of EU farmers due to the huge areas under cultivation and forms of production there.

Aid is not a gift

NAK President Zsolt György Papp estimates that the Common Agricultural Policy will receive a total of 387 billion euros in the financial framework after 2027. In Hungary, 162,000 farmers who cultivate around 5 million hectares of land receive annual payments totalling more than 500 billion forints (approx. 1.2 billion euros). This amount is not a gift, but an essential element of agricultural subsidies, which are granted according to strict rules.

Even more absurd: the EU’s strategy paper speaks out against meat consumption and proposes reducing livestock farming, taxing meat products and switching agriculture to a plant-based diet. It is open to a dialogue on the renewal of agriculture. However, there needs to be a fundamental debate about what the agriculture of the future should actually look like.