Meeting of farmers with the Minister of Agriculture ended without agreement

This Friday’s meeting between Agriculture Minister Maria do Seu Antunes and farmers ended without reaching an agreement.

According to a representative of the Civil Farmers’ Movement, more was expected from the minister and they say that there were no specific proposals or conclusions.

“We found a lot of counter-information from the minister, [Maria do Céu Antunes]. It is obvious that the message is not being conveyed in the most correct manner or at least they are hiding behind a lack of information and therefore farmers are unable to take part in their role in society. We are the legal stewards of a large part of the country,” said Ricardo Estrela of the Civil Farmers’ Movement, speaking to reporters after a meeting held at the Ministry of Agriculture.

It was clear to Ricardo Estrela that the movement “makes sense and should exist,” and he regretted that he had not set specific dates at the meeting for the payment of most of the announced aid.

We are talking about the approval by the Council of Ministers of a resolution to allocate 320 million euros to support the agricultural sector, aimed at mitigating the impact of drought and inflation on production costs.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food, contacted by the company at the time, explained that this amount was included in the more than 400 million euro support package for the sector that the government announced last week.

The remaining amount relates to support, which depends on the green light from Brussels.

Portuguese farmers have been taking to the streets since last week in protests organized by a movement that claims to be spontaneous.

These protests affected hundreds of roads from north to south, with tractors stopped or idling.

The government announced a support package worth more than €400 million aimed at mitigating the effects of the drought and strengthening the Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC), which did not stop the demonstrations.

Farmers who demand flexibility from the CAP – the Common Agricultural Policy, fair working conditions and competition, the right to adequate food and increased value of operations – have decided to continue with planned protests, justifying it by saying that support is “a handful of nothing”. “, taking into account that the terms and methods of payment have not been determined.

Since then, Agriculture Minister Maria do Seu Antunes has been meeting with associations and confederations representing the sector.

Let us remind you that Portuguese farmers have been taking to the streets since last week, holding various organized actions.