Planas calls for European agricultural reserve mobilization to deal with DANA effects

Ane Barcos/Aquí Europa The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, expressed this Monday his intention to remind the European Commission of the request he made last week to mobilize the financial crisis reserve of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in order to help the primary sector affected by the DANA in the Valencian Community. Speaking on his arrival at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, held this Monday in Brussels, Planas explained that he would take advantage of the meeting to remind the Community Executive of the request he made last week for the mobilization of the agricultural reserve, which he considered to be “a first warning for the Commission to take into account the situation in Spain.” In this regard, he stressed that, although the request has already been submitted by letter to the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, for the agricultural reserve of the CAP to be mobilized, Spain is still in the process of collecting the necessary data to adequately substantiate it. “We have 140 experts working, together with the technicians of the Ministry and the Regional Ministry, to assess the damage in the agricultural sector,” explained Planas. He added that, although there is already “a provisional estimate” of the damage, it is necessary to complete and confirm this data before presenting the formal request to the Commission. “The experts have only begun to access the affected farms a few days ago, so we are very interested in moving quickly in this process,” said the minister. As for the procedure for activating the reserve, Planas acknowledged that it is not fast, but expressed his hope that “the sooner we have the complete data, the sooner we will be able to receive the community funds” for the recovery of the agricultural sector. “The magnitude of the catastrophe is very large and Spain needs the urgent support and solidarity of the European Union to recover normality in agricultural and livestock production as soon as possible,” he added. In addition to the crisis reserve funds, the Spanish Government has also asked Brussels for other measures such as the temporary reprogramming of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and other European packages that aim to recover the productive potential damaged by catastrophes. Planas also expressed his gratitude for the displays of solidarity and support that Spain has received from its European counterparts after the recent floods. “This has been the greatest natural disaster of the century in the European Union, and I want to thank the solidarity of all the European countries, which have been at Spain's side in these difficult times,” he said. He also stressed that “it is essential that the EU be present and offer support to the Member States in times as complex as the one we are experiencing in Spain.”

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