The Diplomat
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has sent a letter to the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Janusz Wojciechowski, in which he requests the activation of the crisis reserve of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the possibility of the autonomous communities using the unexecuted amounts of the EAFRD to support farmers and livestock farmers in the face of the “exceptional” drought situation.
Planas told the press conference following the Council of Ministers that he had sent the letter to Wojciechowski on Monday, and said: “We understand that this is an exceptional circumstance. I expect a prompt reaction from the European Commission, although I know that decisions take time, but it is perfectly justified by the exceptional nature of the situation”.
The minister also indicated that he has told the EC that in the advance payment that is made each year on 16 October for CAP declarations, which is usually 50%, this amount should be raised to the “largest possible amount”.
The Agriculture Minister advocated making the conditionality of basic income and sustainability aid more flexible, as well as adapting the eco-schemes to the current drought situation.
“We hope to have a response from the European Commission sooner rather than later, and I am convinced that other EU countries, such as Portugal, will join this initiative,” he said.
