Videoconference of the Committees on Agriculture of the Parliaments of the V4 Countries, 8 December 2021

A videoconference of the Agriculture Committees of the national parliaments of Visegrád countries, organised by the Hungarian National Assembly within the framework of the Hungarian V4 Presidency, took place on 8 December 2021, on current issues concerning the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. The event was hosted by Sándor Font, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture of the Hungarian National Assembly.


The videoconference was attended by Michal Kučera, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture of the Czech Chamber of Deputies and Petr Šilar, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture of the Committee on National Economy, Agriculture and Transport of the Czech Senate. The Polish Sejm was represented by Robert Telus, Chairman and Jerzy Małecki, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, while the Polish Senate was represented by Jerzy Chróścikowski, Chairman and Zdzisław Pupa, Member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. On behalf of the Slovak National Council, Jaroslav Karahuta, Chairman of the Agricultural and Environmental Committee was present at the event. During the online event, participants discussed two issues: 1) the current state of play of the adoption of the CAP legislative package; and 2) the adoption of CAP Strategic Plans by the European Commission and the functioning of the new delivery model.


The event was attended by Dr. Zsolt Feldman, Secretary of State for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Ministry of Agriculture, who highlighted in his speech that the 2023-2027 period would be of key importance to farmers. Concerning the national CAP strategic plans, he stressed that their fast adoption was a common goal, which could be greatly supported by ensuring an on-going dialogue between Member States and the European Commission, for the sake of transparency and a regular exchange of feedback and questions.


In his verbal contributions Sándor Font underlined that the main objective of CAP was to promote environmental protection and climate action in agriculture in a sustainable way, and to contribute to the achievement of the EU's environmental and climate objectives. He stressed that the most important task facing Member States for the rest of the year was the submission of national CAP strategic plans by 1 January 2022.


At the end of the online meeting, the representatives of V4 countries adopted a joint declaration on the necessity of transparency in the approval process of CAP Strategic Plans, on ensuring the operation of the new delivery model and on the current challenges concerning CAP.
 
+photos
+joint statement