José Manuel Fernandes stated that the sector is a strategic priority for the government and defended an update of the Common Agricultural Policy (PAC). The minister warned of issues such as excessive bureaucracy and inequality in access to agricultural insurance.
The Minister of Agriculture, José Manuel Fernandes, said on Saturday that the sector is a strategic priority for the government and defended an update of the common agricultural policy, warning that the current model must be simplified and reinforced.
“Agriculture for us is strategic, it is structuring, it is food on the plate, food security, cohesion, competitiveness, investigation and innovation,” said the ruler, on the fringes of a visit to the National Agriculture Fair in Santarém, where he was accompanied by the European Commissioner of Agriculture, Christophe Hansen.
The minister highlighted the work that the government has been developing in the area, namely the reinforcement of farmers’ income, the support for generational renewal and the launch of the project “Água that unites”, also reporting that the Portuguese agri -food deficit was reduced by over 400 million euros in 2024.
Asked about the Common Agricultural Policy (PAC), the ruler said that it is an essential instrument to ensure more sustainable agricultural practices, but warned of the need to increase available amounts and to bureaucracy in processes.
“The farmer cannot be in the countryside and at the same time fill papers every day,” he said.
José Manuel Fernandes also warned of the need to ensure widespread access to vaccines and plantifarm products, noting that only two member states currently have laboratories for the production of pest and disease vaccines.
“We have new pests and diseases. But it is essential that vaccines are available to all Member States. If these laboratories get vaccines for their farmers, there will be a market destruction,” he said.
The minister also defended the reinforcement of the policy of agricultural insurance, warning of inequalities between the Member States in access to instruments such as insurance against weather.
“It is important that insurance intended for weather are available to all Member States under similar conditions, so as not to have a farmer of a Member State with access to insurance and one who does not have,” he added.
Still on the PAC review, the minister reiterated that “what works well should not be destroyed,” considering that the model has been “a great success”, despite admitting improvements.
The European Commissioner of Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, stressed that European agriculture faces increasing pressures, from climate change to the impact of war in Ukraine, still through commercial tensions between the United States and China.
“Productivity has to return to the center of agricultural policy,” he said.
The Commissioner recalled that the European Commission recently presented a legislative package to simplify PAC, hoping that it will be ratified soon by Parliament and the European Council.
“We want to apply these measures next year,” he said, noting that the European Union has a financing gap in the agricultural sector of around 62 billion euros.
For the official, it is essential to guarantee attractive conditions for young people to enter the agricultural sector through education, political stability and financing.
“Food security and food sovereignty are not guaranteed, we have to invest in the future generation,” he said.
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