Brussels, 06/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Rzeszow (Poland), the agriculture ministers of the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland), joined by their Romanian and Bulgarian counterparts, published a joint statement on 3 July on the key elements of common agricultural policy (CAP) reform, especially the breakdown of funding for the policy's two pillars (direct aid on one side and rural development on the other).
The text underlines that, in the context of negotiations on the Union's financial framework for 2014-2020, support should be given to proposals allowing swifter convergence of direct payments between member states, which would not have a negative effect on the budgetary envelopes of any member state with aid rates below the average in 2013. The signatories also underline that the differences in development between member states and the allocations for the 2007-2013 period should be the guiding principles for defining objective criteria for the allocation of rural development aid. (LC/transl.jl)