There are 11 institutions, associations and movements that will oversee the design and implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy in the country. There are groups of farmers, civic and environmental movements, and practically all associations and confederations representing the sector are involved. But not CAP.
The Confederation of Portuguese Farmers, which includes nearly 300 members of the primary sector, was omitted in the message signed on February 2 by Agriculture Minister Maria do Céu Antunes.
“If the minister does not come and publicly withdraws, we will refuse to participate in any meeting while this minister is in office.”
The document is explicit.
“The National Supervisory Commission of PEPAC, referred to in Article 61 of Decree-Law No. 5/2023 of January 25, is composed of representatives of the following entities: a) Association of Young Farmers of Portugal (AJAP); b) Association of Agricultural Women of Portugal (AMAP); c) Association of Agricultural and Rural Women of Portugal (MARP); d) National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA); e) National Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives and Agricultural Credit of Portugal (CONFAGRI); f) National Confederation of Young Farmers of Portugal (CNJ); g) Portuguese Confederation of Associations for the Protection of the Environment (CPADA); h) Federation of Portuguese Agro-Food Industries (FIPA); i) Minha Terra – Portuguese Federation of Local Development Associations; j) PEPAC Civic Coalition (SPECO);k) “Joining PEPAC” Civic Coalition.”
No reference to CAP. The reason? “We got a call from the office saying it was a mistake”, CAP general secretary Luís Mira tells Dinheiro Vivo, who considers the whole situation “extremely serious”. And of course: “If the minister does not come and publicly withdraws, we will refuse to participate in any meeting while this minister is in office.”
An extreme measure, but one that the CAP justifies: “We have already given the country too much and we cannot accept an offense of this seriousness. If they want institutional respect, they must give respect”, says the leader of that confederation.
It should be remembered that Maria do Céu Antunes has had successive clashes with the CAP – one of the most serious episodes took place in the summer, when the minister responded to the lack of support for farmers with the phrase: “”It is better to asking why during the campaign CAP advised voters not to vote for the PS.”
Now CAP is questioning whether it is in fact just a mistake or some other retaliation, because of the demonstrations that have been promoted all over the country.
“This is a committee, a body set up under European regulations, to monitor agricultural policy. Forgetting the only organization in the sector that has a seat on the permanent committee of Social Dialogue and the most representative of the production is very serious,” says Luís Mira. Does a government that excludes and separates institutions work well?he asks, pointing out other matters related to the supervisory committee.
For example, the fact that include in the list that CAP forgot to include AMP, a farmer’s organization that has been extinct for a decade. Or two other associations that are citizens’ movements on an equal footing with sector federations. “It is not normal. Citizens’ movements can and should actively participate in the processes, but at the institutional level of the implementation of a European program it makes no sense – they are organizations whose members, statutes, etc.”, emphasizes Luís Mira.
And he concludes, “It’s all wrong. It’s another demonstration of incompetence.”
Source: DN
