CAP requires 140 million package in measures to regain competitiveness

A decision was taken unanimously at the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Presidents of the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), which took place today in Lisbon.

In a statement released today, CAP says that it will “require the government to make an urgent and immediate package of EUR 140 million available in support of farmers” in view of the “insufficiency of fuel and fertiliser support” and the “ineffectiveness in the full use of available European instruments”.

For the confederation led by Álvaro Mendonça and Moura, this is “an indispensable response to compensate for the worsening costs of production and mitigate the lost competitiveness” vis-à-vis the neighbouring country.

The CAP argues that “the increase in the prices of production factors, in particular fuels and fertilisers, is undermining the economic viability of farms” and considers that “a government response of a size proportional to the severity of the crisis remains lacking”.

“ Fuel support and EUR 20 million for fertilisers and other production factors are clearly below sector requirements. The existence of specific measures does not replace an intervention capable of compensating for the loss of competitiveness”, he adds.

At the same time, it maintains that “difference against Spain aggravates competitive inequality within the same market”, noting that the support granted by the Spanish Government “ascends to EUR 1,100 million”, being “sdamagingly superior to what Portugal has attributed to the sector so far”.

It also states that “Portugal must make full use of the possibilities of national reinforcement provided for in the European instruments”, recalling that Brussels, “recognizing the exceptional seriousness of the situation, has triggered two support mechanisms”, namely the crisis reserve and “the reprogramming of the common agricultural policy at national level, allowing national funding to be added up to 200% of the Community allocation”.

“The CAP considers it unacceptable for the government to dispense with this possibility while farmers accumulate losses,” he stresses, also warning that “the insufficiency of the national response has consequences that go beyond agricultural holdings”, particularly as regards the replacement of Portuguese production by imports and the worsening of food dependence.

The confederation therefore considers that it is “an imperative” to mitigate the difference in competitiveness and points out that “the EUR 140 million demanded by CAP are an essential condition to protect national production, regain competitiveness and prevent this crisis from causing irreversible losses in the sector.”.

Defending that “it is not permissible to confuse these extraordinary support with those related to climate disasters that have affected several sectors of activity and even less with current CAP payments, which have their own objectives and do not constitute any compensation,” CAP signals that it will deliver “these demands at hand” to parliament and the official residence of the Prime Minister, in São Bento, Lisbon, on October 12.

“ Without the restoration of the minimum conditions of competitiveness of the sector, the taking of concerted protest measures will be inevitable ", lasts.