Hungary’s Land Law Not In Conflict With EU Law, Says Ministry
- 21 Feb 2014 8:00 AM
Hungary’s new land law does not conflict with EU law, the rural development ministry said. The new law protects Hungarian land, which is why it is attacked from abroad – from Brussels and Austria – the ministry said, accusing parliamentary parties and lawmakers who did not vote for the amended land law for “betraying Hungarian farmers”.
The government has created one of the strictest regulations in Europe, which protects the interests of local farmers against those of speculators, the ministry said. It limits the availability of land for purchase to foreigners and offers Hungarian farms a chance to grow, it added.
At the same time, the government wants to keep EU subsidies, which are important to farmers, while keeping Hungarian land in Hungarian hands, it added. Hungary’s new land law will come into effect on May 1, whether the EU likes it or not, Márton Bitay, the state secretary responsible for the ministry’s land programme, told the latest issue of weekly Heti Válasz.
He said the government wants EU subsidies worth thousands of billions of forints to exclusively benefit Hungarian farmers.
Source www.hungarymatters.hu
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