France, Portugal and Spain reject possible cuts in aid for agriculture - La Provincia

HeGovernment of the Canary Islandsand the banana producers of the archipelago achieved this Tuesday in the framework ofEuropean Joint Committee,held in Paris, the support of the executives of Spain, France and Portugal in defense of the maintenance of the budget of the Community Program of Support for Agricultural Production in the Canary Islands (Posei) and the joint rejection of the 3.9% cut in the this aid plan, proposed by the European Commission derived from a reduction of the budget of the futureCommunity Agrarian Policy (CAP).

The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Water of the Government of the Canary Islands,Narvay Quintero,accompanied by the Deputy Minister of the Primary Sector,Abel Morales,He explained that the ministers of the three member states have announced the signing of a letter to be sent to the president of the European Commission in which they reiterate the importance that these countries attach to the outermost regions (ORs) and their main European support instrument, the Posei, and his desire for this program to remain at its current level, within the framework of reflections on future European programming after 2020.

During his speech at the meeting, Quintero defended that in this context of increasing globalization and greater opening of marketsnot only the banana,but the whole of agriculture and livestock of the ORs, can not accept the reduction of the budget allocated to Posei programs in the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy from 2020.

"The decrease in Posei subsidies would mean a reduction in production and the risk of abandonment of farms, given the difficulties of the producers of the ORs to achieve a level of competitiveness similar to that of continental European agriculture. is aupward revisionjustified in the existence of an additional Posei that Europe authorizes and greater demands -environmental and social- of local productions against imports, "Quintero said.

In this regard, the Minister stressed the importance that "the three member states have made explicit to the European Commission itsfrontal rejection of the announced cutsof the agricultural and fisheries budget, which greatly affects the outermost regions "and recalled that the president of the European Commission,Phil Hogan,during his meeting with the ORs last June in Brussels he was willing to maintain the Posei budget for these beyond 2020 if it is proposed by the member states.

"The council of agriculture and fisheries of October 15 will constitute for the Austrian presidency a first orientation to prepare its situation report, hence the importance of this issue at present," he added.

Within the framework of this meeting, which included the participation of the French, Spanish and Portuguese ministers,Luis Planas, Stéphane Travert and Luís Capoulas,In addition to the representatives of the regional governments of the ORs, the Association of European Banana Producers (APEB) and Asprocan, the risks facing banana production in the European Union were exposed.

In addition to the financial field, the danger of cutting the Posei budget proposed by the European Commission also at commercial level, as a result of thecommercial concessions granted to its competitors,without the European legislation has come to give an appropriate response in case there is an imbalance in the market that would endanger its existence. And also in health, due to the suppression of the phytosanitary products necessary to fight against diseases that affect this crop.

In relation to these issues and as the president of Asprocan explained,Domingo Martín,the producers have asked the governments of Spain, France and Portugal to show their support to the price observatory before the Commission so that it reinforces the vigilance in the supervision of the price level of the banana, in order to be able to immediately detect the declines that they can arise and react quickly enough to alleviate its consequences, as well as the rejection of the three executives to the cuts proposed by Brussels of the Posei card.

They also request that the RUP promotion budget be adapted to give greater value to the production of ultraperipheral plantain in their national markets and that the national authorities of the three member states request arevision of Directive 2001/18 / ECin order to facilitate the fight against pests in this crop.