The counselor points out that with this reduction, the funds of the Common Agricultural Policy will go from 382,000 million in the period 2014-2020 to 336,000 million in the period that will cover until 2027
The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Environment, Antonio Luengo, warned this Wednesday in the Regional Assembly that the new CAP, which will come into operation on January 1, 2023, will mean a 12% reduction in the funds allocated in the financial framework multi-year CAP. Luengo, who appeared in the Chamber at his own request to speak about aid to farmers and ranchers within the framework of the CAP, pointed out that with this reduction, the CAP funds will go from 382,000 million in the period 2014-2020 to 336,000 million in the period that will extend until 2027.
According to the counselor, the credit reduction will also be suffered in the Region. “The new Common Agricultural Policy will mean a loss of 8.8% of income for farmers and ranchers,” he said. Luengo recalled that they have criticized “harshly” the reduction in CAP funds.
During his speech in the Assembly, Luengo stressed that the regional president agreed with the sector a “unique position to defend their interests.” He recalled that a document was signed in which the rejection of the cut of the funds of the PAC was shown so that the necessary funds for the sector were provided and measures were established to promote generational change and ensure stability and permanent innovation.
“We have also opted for the active participation of women in the agricultural sector and we have defended that a greater role be given to their role in rural development,” he explained. Likewise, the counselor indicated that the establishment of compensatory measures has been demanded to help alleviate the extra cost that poses challenges such as Brexit for producers. “It cannot be that the Spanish countryside has requirements to guarantee quality, but that the door is opened to third countries that do not comply with these requirements,” he added.
He also called for a harmonization of water prices, and added that the closure of the Tajo-Segura Transfer will mean a “serious damage to irrigators” who pay 0.7 euros per cubic meter of desalinated water, “an amount that could be multiplied by two once the rates are reviewed due to the rise in electricity rates. “A CAP is necessary to help farmers and ranchers combat the serious grievances suffered by the Government of Spain,” he claimed during his speech.
The regional government paid 70 million euros in aid this year that benefit 12,000 farmers in the sector and that allow the consolidation of “sustainable and precision agriculture and guarantee food quality and safety,” explained the counselor. Luengo recalled that within the framework of the negotiation of the CAP it is the national governments that must reach an agreement with the autonomies to establish the criteria for the distribution of aid. “Unfortunately, this result is not what we have achieved in Spain, where the definitive strategic plan has just been put out for public consultation, which has not been agreed with the autonomies, which generates insecurity in the sector.”
On the part of the parliamentary groups, the PSOE deputy Fernando Moreno considers that the speech of the councilor and the president of the regional government on the PAC is “alarmist and catastrophic”. In his opinion, they have been “more than 2 years lying to Murcian society with the CAP, first they said that this negotiation would make us lose a large part of the aid and they continue to lie to farmers.”
The socialist reproached the councilor for waiting for the structure of the PAC to come out to say “what should be done.” As detailed, farmers who want to access aid “should only commit to respecting measures to protect the environment, respecting gender inclusion and this new model should serve to promote quality agriculture.” The parliamentarian believes that the new model will give “more stability and security to farmers and ranchers,” he said.
The deputy of Podemos, María Marín, pointed out that the situation in which the CAP aid remains “is not good.” As he said, “it is a more missed opportunity to make the CAP a fairer, greener and more social policy.” The parliamentarian warned that the new CAP “changes very little compared to the old one.”
In this sense, he pointed out that “a total change towards a more sustainable model is needed. This change is more necessary today than ever, “he said before adding that the new CAP” has lacked the courage to address this change and lags behind the commitments made. It does not lay the foundations for a more sustainable agriculture and livestock sector. ‘ In his opinion, the PAC “leaves our rural areas in the lurch and the people of our Spain and our Murcia emptied,” he said, denouncing that the PAC only reserves 10% of aid for producers.
After Marín, the Cs deputy and member of the Mixed Group, Ana Martínez Vidal, appeared. Although she said that she would have liked to have had a “more profound” reform, it is true that the approval of the PAC “could not be delayed any longer” . From his point of view, the PAC “forgets” territories such as the northwest, the Altiplano or the Guadalentín Valley, “which receive a much lower amount than the Campo de Cartagena receives.”
The VOX deputy, Francisco José Carrera, highlighted some objectives of the CAP such as contributing to the protection of biodiversity, attracting young farmers, promoting employment and social development or improving the response of EU agriculture to the demands of the society as well as the relative to the food waste. “We have the feeling that Brussels wants a garden to a productive field,” he said.
For his part, the spokesman for the Citizens Parliamentary Group, Francisco Álvarez, pointed out that the CAP is “fundamental” and an “important tool for territorial cohesion.” As he said, aid such as the CAP have an impact on agricultural prices, “without these aid, the prices for the consumer of agricultural products would become very expensive,” he said, indicating that the main thing is to be able to face climate and environmental change while maintaining the profitability of their farms, but this must go hand in hand with economic sustainability ‘.
Finally, the PP deputy Jesús Cano, warned that farmers and ranchers “need certainty,” he said, recalling that “this Government does not have an agreement with the autonomous communities, it is the first time that a government has imposed the PAC on the autonomous communities and it goes against their farmers and ranchers ». Cano recalled that Murcia farmers and ranchers will stop receiving 8.8% of funds and that the CAP “leaves out the cut flower sector,” he said, recalling that this sector “has had a really bad time.”
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