The Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, István Nagy, criticizes the position of the European Commissioner and Executive Vice President for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, considering that the attitude of the Dutch regarding the measures to be taken to achieve the environmental terms required for the Green Deal "jeopardizes subsidies to European farmers". The Hungarian Agriculture Minister explains how, in his remarks to the foreign media, Frans Timmermans "threatened" to withdraw the Commission's proposals for the CAP if the ecological objectives he had envisaged were not achieved, and that farmers could not comply, which, explains the Hungarian leader, "would ignore the more than two years of work of the co-legislator Council of Agriculture and Fisheries and the EP and would push hundreds of thousands of EU producers to complete uncertainty" and refers to Timmermans , Executive Vice President, "probably has not yet had time to examine the substance of the positions taken by the Agriculture and Fisheries Council and the European Parliament in recent weeks. For example, if we use eco-schemes, which are one of the elements central to the green structure of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the level of ambition of the two institutions far exceeds the level of the original proposal of the Com European ision ".

Hungarian Agriculture Minister István Nagy recalled that in December 2019, the European Commission presented its Communication on the European Green Deal, which also lists the CAP among the EU policies that the Commission believes should be reconsidered in the context of the Green Agreement. However, in his inaugural speech following the election of the Commission's President, Ursula von der Leyen, he confirmed that the CAP reform should be concluded on the basis of an existing Commission proposal.

According to István Nagy, it is cause for serious concern that the Executive Vice President of the Commission threatens to withdraw the proposals, ignoring the emergency situation caused by the COVID-19 epidemic and considers that "so far, there are indications that agriculture is leaving Timmermans completely cold - proof of this is that he is completely unaware of the Member States. He has attended a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council only once since he took office, and after his introductory speech, citing other concerns, he left without hearing any ministerial comment. Instead of negotiating on the merits, he communicates through the media, "so Nagy wonders" what vision does Vice President Timmermans have for European producers. "

From his perspective, the Hungarian leader believes that the 'Farm to Table' and biodiversity strategies, launched this spring, should be an opportunity and not an insurmountable burden for European farmers, for which it is necessary to find the right balance between competitiveness and the level of ambition of climate protection measures: "It is clear that agriculture must also contribute to the fight against climate change, but it is important to avoid setting unattainable targets. Halve the use of pesticides or making 25% of all agricultural land mandatory for organic production is an unattainable requirement and, in the absence of alternative solutions and methods, could jeopardize not only the EU's competitiveness but even food security. In any case , the climate protection measures adopted by the Member States so far should be taken into account when establishing the baselines of the Member States. According to Timmermans, one of the main added values ​​of the CAP is that it produces high-quality food at affordable prices. However, do you think it is questionable whether we pay enough for food? "; question to which he replies that "based on the above, Timmermans seems to be on the side of drastic drops in agricultural production and higher food prices", Nagy says.

At a time when not only the European Union, but the whole world is being hit by the coronavirus epidemic, Nagy considers it "extremely irresponsible that the Executive Vice President of the Commission threatens the Commission to withdraw the CAP proposals through of the media ", thereby stating that" the Commission, and therefore Frans Timmermans, must respect the Council's position, which is the result of more than two years of joint democratic efforts by the 27 Member States. We hope that the Commission responsibly promote the agreement in the forthcoming negotiations, which strikes the right balance between the competitiveness of farmers and the integration of environmental and climate protection considerations "and recalls that" in recent months, all EU citizens have verified for themselves that agriculture, producers and the entire food chain can provide citizens of the European Union with safe food at all times", so "in this extraordinary situation, European farmers they do not need a threat, but an expression of gratitude ", emphasizes István Nagy.