CAP says the government has sent “positive signals” and has spent 2023 “correcting mistakes” at the ministry.

The Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) argues that the Montenegrin executive has already given “very positive signals” and that it has spent 2023 correcting the mistakes of the Ministry of Agriculture, which at the time was controlled by Maria do Seu Antunes (PS).

“This government has given very positive signals and it is important to recognize that,” CAP President Alvaro Mendonça e Moura said in an interview with Lusa, highlighting the return of forests to the Ministry of Agriculture, a commitment made by the Democratic Alliance (AD) during the election campaign.

On the other hand, he stressed that Prime Minister Luis Montenegro called agriculture a “strategic sector”, which, according to CAP, has not been heard for a long time.

Farmers therefore believe there is political will and leadership, which they now hope to see on the ground through concrete action.

Mendonça e Moura recalled that the Minister of Agriculture himself, José Manuel Fernández, has already publicly stated that it is necessary to speed up payments to farmers, introduce predictability and use all available means, namely the support of the European Union (EU).

“We have already warned the previous government about the huge risk of losing funds, which will have to be realized before the end of next year. I’m talking about realized, not decided. There is an acceleration in the functioning of the Ministry of Agriculture, which is what is needed,” he emphasized.

CAP has already met with the new agriculture minister, who has demonstrated openness and a desire to know the sector’s priorities, he noted, noting that a government official asked the confederation not only to present problems, but also projects to solve them.

These meetings also discussed the Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC), which, as noted, was drawn up without consultation with the sector, so it needs to be completely reformulated and adapted to the Portuguese reality, one of the moments that forced farmers to take to the streets in the beginning of the year.

For the confederation, the selection of José Manuel Fernández for the agriculture portfolio opened a new door to institutional dialogue between the government and the agricultural sector, highlighting that the new minister has advantages over his European counterparts, namely a “deep knowledge of Brussels” and European financial issues.

“I never thought that the health minister should be a doctor or a nurse. […]. The Minister of Agriculture also does not need to be an expert in wine, grains or olive oil. Not in this case. You must understand the importance and size of the sector also in terms of territorial cohesion,” he said, recalling that agriculture also includes forestry and agro-ecological issues.

Álvaro Mendonça e Moura, who was elected president of the CAP in May 2023, at a time when he planned to devote himself exclusively to his projects in the agricultural sector, after being associated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, classified his first year as the head of the confederation called him “very difficult” as the sector faced a “very severe” drought during this period with little support and “dysfunction” from the Department of Agriculture.

“We’ve never had a relief campaign as bad as we did in 2023, which then led to delays in payments. In fact, we spent days trying to fix what the ministry [da Agricultura] did it or not. It was very difficult,” he lamented.

On the other hand, he noted that the Ministry of Agriculture had been “amputated” of one of its executive bodies, referring to the regional agricultural departments, whose powers were transferred to the Regional Commissions for Coordination and Development (CCDR), which, in his opinion, should should be urgently abolished, as happened with forests (which were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment).

On 17 May 2023, the CAP elected Álvaro Mendonça y Moura as president for the three-year period 2023–2025, in what was called the “most massive electoral act” in the history of the confederation, succeeding Eduardo Oliveira e Sousa, who moved to the general assembly table.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Oliveira e Sousa headed the list of the Democratic Alliance (AD) of Santarem and was appointed Minister of Agriculture, which ultimately did not happen.

Asked about the possibility of running for another term, Mendonça e Moura said he was not making any predictions and was not still worried about this possibility, but about the “quite serious” moment that Portuguese agriculture is going through.