A commitment on the development of the chain and agriculture needs to be incorporated in all key elements of the agrifood industry, not only in politics and institutions, Erjavec said.

In agriculture, the country needs a complete overhaul of all public institutions, the professor of the Biotechnical Faculty believes.

"Development means know-how, creativity, innovations as well as connecting with local production, environment and environmental services. All key elements of the agrifood industry must be committed to this," he stressed.

Mojmir Mrak of the Ljubljana Economics Faculty noted that the previous EU budget framework had been significantly more favourable for Slovenia than the new one, as both Slovenian regions, the eastern and the western, had been fully entitled to cohesion funds.

Currently, the western part of the country is above EU average in terms of development, while the eastern does not even reach 75%, he said.

Commenting on the new CAP, Erjavec expressed regret that no new challenges or goals had been coordinated among member states, which according to him means that agriculture will be increasingly affected by the turbulences of the market.

Agriculture Minister Dejan Židan said he hoped that the new CAP would be implemented with the beginning of 2015. But he warned that the new policy might bring even more red tape in same fields, both for farmers and the member states.

Answering a question by MP Violeta Tomič of the opposition United Left (ZL) on GMOs and importing of beef after the passage of trade agreements with the US and Canada, Židan said that food products made from GSO must be appropriately labelled in the EU.

"But the problem is that there is a chance of indirect usage of GMOs. If an animal is fed with genetically modified soy, consumer who buys milk does not know that. An agreement on this on the EU level is still elusive," the minister said.

As regards trade agreements, Erjavec said that there was no need for concern that US farm products would flood Europe. But he added that market liberalisation would become a reality, which everybody needed to accept.

"The answer is a competitive and competent agrifood chain. We have neglected creativity, innovations and transfer of know-how; it's all about politics. Indeed, politics enables stability, but it cannot replace development," he said.

MP of the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) Iva Dimic wanted to know how Russia's embargo on EU food products and a possible UK exit from the EU would affect the EU budget. Mrak replied that the embargo would not have a direct effect on the budget, but would trigger a series of issues connected to the EU energy policy, which would be financed by taking out of loans.

Židan added that the embargo had also prompted the EU to look for new markets. He sees great opportunities here for food export to China.

Commenting on a possible UK exit from the EU, Mrak said that this would be good for the budget, as there would be no more UK rebate.