Last Saturday, the PSD accused the government of putting farmers in a serious financial situation by missing payment deadlines for European Union aid, which will not be processed until the end of November.
In a statement, the Social Democratic parliamentary group said that “Missing the deadline and delaying community payment forecasts is another breach of trust on the part of the executive branch with peasants and their confederations”.
“It is another given word that is not honored by the government,” the PSD accuses.
The party points out that according to the already published PEPAC (Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan) community payment calendar:more than 90% of these payments are not processed until the end of Novemberwhich contradicts the promise of the Minister of Agriculture and Food [Maria do Céu Antunes] before the sector”.
In response to questions from the PSD: the Minister of Agriculture and Food “was forceful when he stated that payments to farmers would be guaranteed in October”.
“With this decision the government not only fails to make a political commitment, but also pushes Portuguese farmers into a situation of competitive disadvantage towards their community partners and, moreover, endanger the financial viability of agricultural companies with financial obligations to the banks,” the Social Democrats emphasize.
On Friday, the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) also accused in a statement the Ministry of Agriculture of missing the payment deadline to farmers, under the Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC).
“CAP has noted IFAP’s public announcement with great concern, but without surprise [Instituto de Financiamento da Agricultura e Pescas] on the payment schedule to Portuguese farmers of European money in connection with the Common Agricultural Policy [PAC]included in the Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy, approved by the Portuguese Government,” said the note of this confederation.
Farmers warned that this situation will aggravate the problems of the sector, which was already weakened after two years of drought and the increase in the costs of production factors.
On the other hand, they reiterated that PEPAC is out of touch with the reality of Portuguese agriculture and that public services with powers in the areas of agrofood and agroforestry are incoherent, noting that the Single Order campaign took place “without any parallel in the past of the last decades of the common agricultural policy”.
CAP considered this situation unacceptable and demanded that farmers be compensated for this delay, taking into account that they are in an unequal situation compared to their Spanish competitors.
The confederation led by Álvaro Mendonça e Moura wants IFAP to do everything in its power to accelerate payments and for work to change PEPAC to begin immediately, allowing “much more direct” access to European agricultural funds in the future.
Source: DN
