Agriculture Minister Takac: I Support Farmers' Protest in Brussels

Bratislava/Brussels, 18 December (TASR) - Slovak Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) has expressed his support for the protest by European farmers and food producers that is taking place in Brussels on Thursday joined by representatives of the agricultural sector from several EU-member states, TASR has learnt from the Agriculture Ministry's communications department. Takac supports the farmers' peaceful and legitimate initiative and stressed that their demands are crucial for maintaining food production in the European Union. "Farmers aren't protesting against Europe in Brussels today, they are protesting for Europe not to lose its ability to produce its own safe food. Slovakia supports them in this effort," said Takac. According to the minister, the reasons for the protest are clear - concerns about the direction of the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the EU Multi-annual Financial Framework for 2028-2034, which is currently being prepared, including the risk that the budget for agriculture will be weakened. At the same time, there is growing pressure to increase imports from third countries without comparable standards, which may put European producers at a disadvantage and weaken food security, said Takac. "We need a strong, independent and two-pillar Common Agricultural Policy with a stable budget. European farmers must be certain that they'll have fair conditions and that the EU won't put them at a disadvantage vis-a-vis imports that fail to observe the same rules," added the minister. Takac noted that the common position of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) on these issues was confirmed by the signing of the Tatra Declaration by representatives of the V4 agricultural chambers along with their partners, including in Austria. The declaration rejects what it calls high-risk proposals by the European Commission (EC) concerning the future CAP and the EU budget. ko/df