Farmers in non-EU countries must "play their part" in the joint effort to fight climate change, protect biodiversity, and cut back on pollution, Nagy said in a statement issued by his ministry.
He noted that farm goods imported from outside the EU, which leave a much bigger environmental footprint, are often cheaper than those produced in Europe, hurting local farmers' competitiveness.
Nagy asked the European Commission to weigh the competitiveness of local farmers when negotiating free trade agreements. At the meeting in Luxembourg, the EU farm ministers exchanged views on the information provided by the EC on a recently adopted report on the application of EU health and environmental standards to imported farm products.
The discussion followed an earlier debate organized by the French Presidency of the Council of the EU in February on strengthening the coherence between the European Green Deal, the Common Agricultural Policy, and the EU's trade policy.



