The Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) clarified this Thursday that it has agreed with the government to review the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC) and the payment for integrated production and ecological schemes for organic farming.
“At a press conference held yesterday afternoon [quarta-feira]At the Ministry of Agriculture, in the presence of Agriculture Governor Maria do Seu Antunes and Finance Minister Fernando Media, a support package for the sector totaling 440 million euros was announced, which confused different values,” CAP noted in an explanation to members.
In this sense, the confederation needed to agree on January 30th on payment without cuts for organic production and eco-schemes for integrated production.
According to CAP, the government has also committed to reviewing the current PEPAC.
The first meeting on this issue will take place on February 5.
On Wednesday, the government announced an income support package for farmers worth more than €400 million.
These include, among other things, production measures worth 200 million euros, provision of coverage for production losses and the creation of a credit line of 50 million euros with a zero interest rate.
To this should be added the reduction of the ISP (petroleum product tax) on agricultural diesel to the minimum permissible level, which will result in a reduction of 55%, equivalent to 11 million euros per year.
An increase of €60 million is also included in the first pillar (direct payments) of PEPAC to support farm production, enable organic farming and integrated production in environmental schemes, and a €60 million increase in the second pillar (rural development) to ensure that by February payment for applications for environmental and climate protection measures.
The government also wants to unveil a reprogramming of PEPAC in February to create new environmental and climate measures worth €58 million.
The minister said she had agreed a package of support with the confederations.
The National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) has already assured that it was not involved in any negotiations.
Despite this statement, the farmers decided to keep the protests on schedule, arguing that support was “nothing at all”, taking into account that neither the timing nor methods of payment had been determined.
Agriculture Minister Maria do Ceu Antunes said she respected the right to demonstrate but asked that they be held in an “organized and regulated manner” to avoid putting people and property at risk.
The minister also assured that the government will take into account the demands of the protesters.
In France, farmers are blocking several roads, blaming falling incomes, low pensions, administrative complexity, inflated standards and foreign competition.
Protest has also grown in countries such as Spain, Belgium, Greece, Germany and Italy.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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