European issues, home effects
The presentation entitled “What will we eat tomorrow? – between GMOs and food preservation” held by Fidesz’ MEP Béla Glattfelder on November 26th, 2010 in the Reményik Sándor Gallery in Cluj-Napoca was the first in the series of presentation organized under the name European evenings by DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor.
The topic at hand is timely due to the fact that the European Commission presented its proposal to modify the Common Agricultural Policy last week. The guest of the evening was MEP Béla Glattfelder, who is considered to be the Hungarian delegation’s specialist in the subject.
The discussion was opened by the welcoming words of Lutheran Episcopal first counselor Attila Fehér, followed by Csaba Sógor’s keynote address about the various dimension of MEPs’ work.
„While here, at home we are known for our work in the field of protection of minority rights, we discuss different specialized policies in several commissions in Brussels and this work affects the whole European Union, including us, Hungarians living in Transylvania” – said the MEP. Csaba Sógor made reference to recent statistics saying that lately the number of people employed in the agricultural sector has decreased significantly in Europe, Romania has lost 41% of its workforce in the field, while income in the sector has increased by 33%. Therefore „the issue is relevant here and in all corners of Europe, especially since the member states cannot compete all by themselves in the global market”.
Béla Glattfelder also used a global approach to the question of agricultural production saying that growing populations imply growth in food and energy consumption. This will lead to a global scale shortage in food, water and energy and it is possible that by 2050 every other person living on Earth will suffer from famine. In the context of such pessimistic views does the EU’s agricultural policy arrive. Although it provides for a smaller budget for the whole sector, it is possible, that the new member states of the EU will still experience a slight increase in the support received through the programs. Glattfelder also reminded that food prices are expected to rise in the near future, so the lack of institutional support will somewhat be compensated by the market itself.
Another topic of the presentation was the issues of usage of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agricultural production.
The Hungarian MEP said that despite the sharp debate on the subject, usage of GMOs is a widespread global practice, many common plants (corn, soy, cotton) are already being produced through such procedures under strict technical and food safety regulations. The EU has not made a decision about the GMOs, so member states may decide for themselves on the subject. Glattfelder reminded that each member state has a licensing body, these have regular European-level meetings and consider European health, quality and food safety regulations.
The event was closed the words of MEP Csaba Sógor, who pointed out, that the in the European Parliament Hungarian MEP’s do not cooperate solely on matters of national importance, like the criticism of the Slovakian State Language Law, but also work together on specialized issues as well. He mentioned the 2008 Wine Reform when only four votes allowed the motion allowing northern wine producers to enhance the quality of their wines. This was in favor of Hungarian and Transylvanian wine producers who are disadvantaged from a climatic point of view from their counterparts in Southern Europe.
The discussion was opened by the welcoming words of Lutheran Episcopal first counselor Attila Fehér, followed by Csaba Sógor’s keynote address about the various dimension of MEPs’ work.
„While here, at home we are known for our work in the field of protection of minority rights, we discuss different specialized policies in several commissions in Brussels and this work affects the whole European Union, including us, Hungarians living in Transylvania” – said the MEP. Csaba Sógor made reference to recent statistics saying that lately the number of people employed in the agricultural sector has decreased significantly in Europe, Romania has lost 41% of its workforce in the field, while income in the sector has increased by 33%. Therefore „the issue is relevant here and in all corners of Europe, especially since the member states cannot compete all by themselves in the global market”.
Béla Glattfelder also used a global approach to the question of agricultural production saying that growing populations imply growth in food and energy consumption. This will lead to a global scale shortage in food, water and energy and it is possible that by 2050 every other person living on Earth will suffer from famine. In the context of such pessimistic views does the EU’s agricultural policy arrive. Although it provides for a smaller budget for the whole sector, it is possible, that the new member states of the EU will still experience a slight increase in the support received through the programs. Glattfelder also reminded that food prices are expected to rise in the near future, so the lack of institutional support will somewhat be compensated by the market itself.
Another topic of the presentation was the issues of usage of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agricultural production.
The Hungarian MEP said that despite the sharp debate on the subject, usage of GMOs is a widespread global practice, many common plants (corn, soy, cotton) are already being produced through such procedures under strict technical and food safety regulations. The EU has not made a decision about the GMOs, so member states may decide for themselves on the subject. Glattfelder reminded that each member state has a licensing body, these have regular European-level meetings and consider European health, quality and food safety regulations.
The event was closed the words of MEP Csaba Sógor, who pointed out, that the in the European Parliament Hungarian MEP’s do not cooperate solely on matters of national importance, like the criticism of the Slovakian State Language Law, but also work together on specialized issues as well. He mentioned the 2008 Wine Reform when only four votes allowed the motion allowing northern wine producers to enhance the quality of their wines. This was in favor of Hungarian and Transylvanian wine producers who are disadvantaged from a climatic point of view from their counterparts in Southern Europe.
