Agriculture Minister István Nagy said Hungary's presidency of the Council of the European Union aims to present guidelines for the common agricultural policy (CAP) in the period after 2027, especially concerning the way payouts are made.
Minister Nagy outlined the priorities of Hungary's EU presidency for the EP's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety to the committees of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Monday.
He said the most important issue was how to encourage farmers to step up their contribution to a sustainable European farm sector and the green transition. He added that a "farmer-centred" European agriculture policy was among the priorities of the Hungarian presidency.
Nagy said the priorities were competitiveness, resilience and sustainability, while the agriculture sector should be farmer-friendly and knowledge-based.
He added that farmers' competitiveness had been hit by bad weather related to climate change, plant and crop disease, higher input costs and imports from non-EU countries.
To address those challenges, the sector needs the right measures to prevent and manage crises, he said.
Nagy said a knowledge-based, innovative agriculture sector was "indispensable" for achieving sustainability goals and improving competitiveness.