Ukraine's possible accession to the European Union would jeopardise the livelihoods of European farmers, who would not be able to compete with the hundreds of thousands of hectares of Ukrainian farms owned by Western big capital, whose production are under much less stringent rules, the agriculture minister said in Brussels on Monday.
István Nagy told Hungarian journalists after the meeting of agriculture ministers of the Member States that the European Commission has not prepared an analysis of the expected effects of a possible Ukrainian accession to the EU on agriculture. Still, according to estimates, Ukrainian farms would receive almost 30 percent of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies.
Consequently, he said that support for farmers in other Member States, including Hungary, would be significantly reduced.
The farmers of the bordering Member States are already "feeling first-hand" the effects of Ukraine's possible EU accession on the agriculture of the European Union (EU), since due to the dismantling of trade barriers, from an agricultural perspective, Ukraine has been part of the internal market for practically one and a half years, he said.
The bordering Member States could not rely on the European Commission when it comes to the treatment of market disruptions caused by the increased Ukrainian imports. Furthermore, the fact that the EU import ban was lifted during the harvest shows complete incompetence. In response, the Commission is threatening Hungary, Poland and Slovakia with infringement proceedings due to the measures introduced under national competence. Hungary has already received the letter about that, said István Nagy.
The agriculture minister said that Member States had no agreement on the Commission's proposal for new gene therapy techniques. He said that this confirms Hungary's position that more time is needed to develop a suitable solution and that nothing should jeopardise food security.
"From the Hungarian side, we consider it a question of sovereignty that we can decide with which technology we want to grow and consume plants or produce food in our own country," said István Nagy, adding that consumers have the right to know what they are buying and consuming.
Regarding the Commission's proposal to reduce the plant protection products, the Minister of Agriculture said the rejection of the proposal qualifies the European Commission's document. He stated that the proposed introduction of mandatory reduction targets based on the lawnmower principle, which completely disregards the results achieved so far, and the ban on other sensitive areas would seriously endanger the EU's food security.
István Nagy said the proposal was irresponsible and unacceptable. He said that Hungary does not consider it necessary to create a new rule in an area where there is no need for it, as the objectives set can be achieved with the current legal framework and practice.
Source: MTI-Hungarian News Agency
