Food security at forefront of Hungary’s Council presidency priorities

5 months ago 13

Hungary is set to place food security at the forefront of its agenda as it takes over the EU Council presidency for the next six months starting on 1 July.

In a document released on 18 June, Budapest declared that agriculture “has never faced so many challenges as it does today”, citing climate change, soaring production costs, plant diseases, conflicts, and a surge in imports from non-EU countries.

Highlighting the critical role of farmers in Europe, Hungary stressed that food sovereignty and security should be part of the EU’s “strategic autonomy.”

“The European agricultural and associated industrial processing sectors play a pivotal role in restoring disrupted global supply chains and achieving the goals of a sovereign European food system and European Strategic Autonomy,” the text says.

One of the presidency’s objectives is to adopt Council conclusions on global food security as part of its priorities on international development. Discussions could take place during a foreign affairs ministers’ meeting on development on 2 December, as per a draft calendar seen by Euractiv.

Food security is also central to the EU’s 2024-2029 strategic agenda, according to a leaked draft from 12 June.

Despite Hungary’s ongoing opposition to several Green Deal policies impacting agriculture, including the recently adopted Nature Restoration Law, the presidency championed sustainable agriculture as a “key priority.”

“Sustainable agriculture and forestry play an important role in combating climate change and protecting biodiversity and nature, thus preserving the values of our planet,” the document states, noting that there will be “an exchange of views” on how new green rules and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) can achieve these objectives.

Work in progress

On the legislative front, Hungary will continue to push forward with stalled proposals such as relaxing the EU’s regulations on gene-edited crops, a text that has been stuck in the Council for months.

It will also aim to advance new rules on animal transport and plant reproductive materials, which the European Parliament already addressed in a position adopted in April.

Parliament wants to ease seed marketing rules for conservation efforts

The European Parliament adopted its position on Wednesday (24 April) on the overhaul of EU marketing legislation on seeds and other types of plant reproductive material (PRM), proposing to free seed exchanges between farmers and for conservation purposes of new bureaucratic requirements.

Regarding the new EU legislation targeting a reduction in food waste by 2030, Hungary plans to spotlight this goal with an international conference in Budapest this October to share best practices.

Furthermore, the Presidency stressed the importance of bolstering the competitiveness of the EU’s agrifood sector, building on the outcome of the dialogue on the future of agriculture, organised by the Commission, set to be presented to ministers on 24 June.

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Zoran Radosavljevic]