Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRI)

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council, one of the Council’s oldest configurations, convenes on a monthly basis and is composed of the Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of all Member States. The Council discusses issues related to agriculture and fisheries, including food safety, animal health, animal welfare and plant health. Issues on the agenda could include, for example, food control, animal rights or the distribution of quotas for Europe’s fishing waters.

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council makes decisions by qualified majority voting. Before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty the Council decided alone on regulations needed to implement the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Common Fisheries Policy, the new treaty however states it shall have to work together with the European Parliament in a co-decision process. A unique characteristic of this Council formation is that the bulk of its work is prepared by a specialised body, the Special Committee on Agriculture, which was established in 1960. 

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council decides on the financing of agricultural and fisheries measures on the basis of an annual European budget of about EUR 60 billion, around 43 billion of which are allocated for direct payments and market interventions. This budget is used to fund certain action areas of agricultural and fisheries policies which involve production management, rural development and market regulation. The CAP is one of the most integrated policies of the EU, which explains why it accounts for a large proportion of the EU budget. No other national funds may be provided for farmers outside of the CAP, only if the competent EU authorities have given the express consent.

A transforming Common Agricultural Policy

A solution had to be found after World War II. to guarantee the food supply for the population because at that time this was one of the basic concerns. During the Cold War period security considerations also drove Western Europe towards self-reliance on food supply. Thus the original purpose of the CAP was to increase productivity in the food sector and provide farmers with a reasonable standard of living and consumers with food at fair prices. While continuing to adhere to its basic principles, the CAP has undergone a series of reforms since the early 1990s, which enabled it to gradually adapt to the challenges posed by a larger and more diverse Europe. The 2003 reform of the CAP brought simpler and more transparent structure, focusing on rural development policy to incentivise sustainability and market orientation. The status assessment (health check) carried out in 2008 put rural development policy even more in the limelight and a decision was made to gradually phase-out the milk quota system by 2015. Despite this further transformation of the CAP will be necessary during the next Multi-annual Financial Framework   

Agriculture today is not just a means of producing food; it also assumes important social and environmental functions. Production processes should comply with public expectations and the regulations in terms of food safety, environment protection and animal welfare. The CAP must tackle the problems stemming from demographic changes in many rural regions. The CAP today appropriates new support for services rendered by farmers that the society desires but the market does not reward. Among these services are the measures implemented by Member States’ rural development programs with a view to protecting the cultural landscape and recreational areas. Concurrently there are also new windows of opportunities opening for agriculture, like the ones in the field of renewable energy sources.

Review of the Common Fisheries Policy

Just like the CAP, the Common Fisheries Policy also aims to achieve sustainable production, ensuring a fair income for farmers and fishermen and reasonable prices for consumers. The main purpose of the EU fisheries policy is to ensure the competitiveness of the fishing industry and the protection of the fish stock and the marine ecosystem at the same time. Preserving biological diversity is one of the exclusive competences of the EU.

The two main elements of the EU fisheries regulations are the quota system and the so-called technical measures that is the set of rules and restrictions that have to be respected – with certain exceptions – during fishing. During the period between 2007 and 2013 the European Fisheries Fund will manage a total of EUR 4 billion. Member States will decide themselves, based on their needs, what they will spend these funds on. Support can be given to sea and inland fishing, actors in the aquaculture field that aims to remedy the problems caused by the decline in the natural stock as well as those in the processing and marketing of fisheries products. A review of the current Common Fisheries Policy is to be conducted by 2012. The demand for food is continuously increasing and fisheries products constitute a resource that is not to be neglected. Fishing activity however cannot increase without a rational and forward looking management of aquatic resources.

PRIORITIES OF THE HUNGARIAN PRESIDENCY

Nowadays agriculture plays a fundamental role: it supplies the public with healthy and safe food; it protects the environment and safeguards the vitality of rural areas. The sector managed to create new jobs even in the midst of the economic and financial crisis. An increased role for agricultural research and innovation can, beside adaptation to the new global challenges contribute to the recovery of agriculture.

The main directions of the CAP and the dairy market legislation package

Since its conception the CAP has undergone several profound reforms and continues to be one of the most complex, most significant policies of the EU. Based on the statement of the European Commission, the Hungarian Presidency is ready to foster debate on the main directions of the CAP. The objective of Hungary is to contribute to the development of a common agriculture policy protecting agricultural farmers through the facilitation of a consensus between Member States and to ensure that information reflecting the true values of CAP reach the European public.

In reaction to the dairy market crisis that unfolded in the recent period, the EU has instituted measures that have improved the sector’s situation somewhat. It is going to be a task for the Hungarian Presidency to conduct the debate on the dairy market legislation package proposed by the European Commission. Due to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the pieces of legislation having an increased significance for agriculture primarily require amendments of a technical nature. Parallel to this, after the conclusion of the CAP 2008 “health check” the simplification of relevant legislation has picked up in speed. The Hungarian Presidency wishes to achieve further progress in both these issues.

Animal protection and cloning

Hungarywill strive to conclude the assessment of the Community Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals during the term of the Presidency. This assessment is indispensable for drafting a new community animal protection strategy. The European public eagerly awaited the publication of the Commission report on animal cloning. Separation of the cloning issue allows the review of so-called novel food – food and food ingredients that have not been significantly used for human consumption within the EU before 15 May 1997 - regulation in force today that has been going on for two years to conclude during the Hungarian Presidency.

Geographical indication and food product information

During the recent years geographical indication to distinguish quality European food products has gained more and more significance. This issue concerns European consumers in the most direct manner possible; therefore it is of outstanding importance that the food quality legislation package comprising regulations on food product quality figures on the agenda of the Hungarian Presidency.

Consumers can, in possession of the appropriate information make a decision on what kinds of food to consume, hence the importance of drafting such a comprehensive, uniform, EU level legislation. The purpose of the draft on food product information for consumers is to simplify the current regulations, furthermore to introduce new elements such as mandatory labelling with nutrition facts. The Hungarian Presidency treats the acceptance of the new regulation as a priority.

Blue tongue disease and bee health

With a view to simplification and in light of recent developments it has become necessary to review the EU regulation on blue tongue disease, which the Hungarian Presidency wishes to place on its agenda. Bees have an outstanding role in the pollination of agricultural crops. The European Commission is to publish in the near future its statement on bee health with a view to contributing to a remedy of the health issues that have emerged in the recent years. It is going to be the task of the Hungarian Presidency to consolidate the results of the accompanying wide professional debate.

The Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe organized in Oslo also put on its agenda the possibility of a European Forest Convention. In respect of European forest policies, the Hungarian Presidency will strive to move this issue further.

Sustainable fishing and aquaculture

The Hungarian Presidency will pay special attention to the reform of the CFP. The simplification of the CFP that began in 2005, the Green Paper published by the European Commission, the consultations that started in 2009 and the Commission’s proposals that are to be published soon are all aimed at securing sustainable fishing and aquaculture. It is expected that the Hungarian Presidency will commence the political debate on this common policy of great significance. It will be up to Hungary to pursue the issue of extending temporary community regulations related to horizontal technical fishing measures.