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Last Thursday, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez , from Brussels, targeted the large supermarket chains as guilty of the price crisis suffered by farmers and ranchers: "It is unacceptable," criticized the chief executive, who even told them that the big distributors "have to take an exam, a self-criticism ." It has only been five days and the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas , has tried to reduce the tension with this sector: "I think it is not about blaming any element of the chain," he said Monday to encourage all the protagonists to open "a period of reflection". For Planas, the agrifood chain is a high priority for me and for the Government. What is happening in Spain in a European phenomenon, which also occurs in France and Germany, "he said
But that truce requested by the minister does not coincide with the patience of the farmers, who maintain and multiply the mobilization calendar for the next few days, not reversing their protests. The meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, last week with the agricultural organizations has not calmed the concern of the sector and the statements blaming the supermarkets, either.
In Extremadura - where the indignation with the police charges (19 wounded) emerged at the Agroexpo de Don Benito fair - the main agricultural organizations have made public this morning that next Tuesday will be the date chosen to "collapse" the region , with National highway and highway cuts in both provinces, those of Cáceres still unconfirmed because they are not authorized by the Government Delegation.
"Good words from the Government, but no action", exclaimed this morning the union leader of Asaja Extremadura, Ángel García Blanco , who has denounced the difficulties that the Delegation of the Government in Extremadura is putting on them to give green light to the cuts of roads . If an agreement is not reached, says García Blanco, he will take the case to the Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura.
"We are going to make the cuts, with or without authorization, because I don't think they send us riot police to beat women who in Navalmoral are going to distribute paprika to the drivers who stop them."
There will also be mobilizations that day up to seven points (including two highways, A-5 in Badajoz and A-66 in Almendralejo) in the province of Badajoz by Apag Extremadura, which are authorized, between 10 am and 3 pm, with an interval of ten minutes between cut and cut. The Coag organization will also join the protests . Extremadura agrarian leaders have pointed out that they will only allow the circulation of firefighters, ambulances and State Security Forces. For Juan Metidieri, president of Apag Extremadura, the authorization of the Government Delegation to the courts has been "very limiting and restrictive."
Green ties
Thousands of green ties will be distributed for this mobilization, a sensitization campaign that has been initiated in social networks to raise public awareness of the difficulties facing the agricultural sector and to which twenty municipalities of Extremadura have already joined, although He hopes to reach a hundred that these ties (two meters high by one wide) hang on his balconies from Wednesday and so that motions are also approved in the municipal plenary in favor of the claims of farmers and ranchers.
Extremadura agrarian organizations are not satisfied with the result of the proposals made by the Ministry of Agriculture to stop the protests. Thus, Ángel García Blanco , president of Asaja Extremadura, said that "it is incredible how the head of supermarkets and also president of the Government" tries to divert attention and not assume the responsibility he has: "Pedro Sánchez has the power to modify issues like the one of the tariffs of irrigation, tax of hydrocarbons or IRPF "and not only ideas like the modification of the law of alimentary chain".
The union leader added that he hopes that on February 18 the president of the Government "does not send those policemen, who are children and grandchildren of farmers to beat their own fathers, mothers, children or wives, which are the ones that will flood the roads ".
Asaja Andalucía resource to the SMI
In Andalusia , the situation is similar to that of Extremadura, with agrarian organizations on a war footing and expanding the mobilization calendar. The Andalusian leader of Asaja, Ricardo Serra , announced Monday that his organization has appealed in the Supreme Court the rise of the Minimum Interprofessional Salary of 2019 and now the same in the coming days with the increase approved last week: "The cumulative effect of both climbs leaves thousands of farms in the ditch, and is especially primed with those more labor-intensive, those that generate more employment and activity in rural areas, those that bring more life to the villages and those that more they contribute to the fight against depopulation, "he said.
In addition, Sierra has accused Pedro Sánchez of "not throwing balls out" and of not addressing in depth the problem: "The collapse of the agricultural sector does not respond to a single cause, it is a cluster of factors that cause the loss of profitability of farms, so it is puerile to exclusively focus on one of them ", as the Government of Spain has been doing in its last days" in placing the focus on large supermarkets as responsible for the agricultural price crisis. "
The minister and the dialogue
However, Luis Planas has insisted on Monday to open a "collective reflection" between the different links in the food chain to achieve "prices that are more significant and high" for farmers and ranchers who have taken to the streets to ask for fair prices .
"The Government's claim is to achieve prices that are more significant, higher and ensure that this price slide is attenuated to ensure that the recognition of the sector is not only price but also social," said Planas at the end of his intervention in the presentation of the Financial Observatory 'Report January 2020' of the General Council of Economists .
The head of Agriculture has again advocated dialogue . "I think it is not about blaming any element of the chain and it is time to open a collective reflection on how having this problem, how all the elements of the chain respond to this situation. The agrifood chain is a high priority for me and for the Government. What is happening in Spain in a European phenomenon, which also occurs in France and Germany, "he said, collects Europa Press.
In this way, Planas has reiterated that the improvement of prices for farmers and ranchers should not affect consumers. "Achieving the rebalancing of the agri-food chain should not entail an over cost for consumers," he reiterated, recalling that this Tuesday will meet the Price Observatory, in which the most affected cases such as olive oil and vegetables will be studied and vegetables.
The minister has insisted on the need for "transparency" and to achieve "greater balance" in the primary sector, for which the Law of the Food Chain will be modified "very soon." "It is necessary to know with what margins each one works, the farmers protest and in many cases it is because the production costs have skyrocketed. We must identify the margins of each element, from the production, the industry, the distribution and the consumers" , has underlined.
CAP negotiations
With regard to the upcoming negotiations of the CAP budgets, marked by the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU, the minister has assured that Spain works so that there is no reduction in agricultural funds , after some information points to The European Commission could propose a 10% cut in these agricultural funds.
"This news is also part of the negotiation. Our aim is to keep the figures for the 2014-2020 period," said Planas, who also stressed that the "objective" of Spain is that "there is no reduction."
Planas recalled that in relation to the CAP, a reduction of 15% had already been proposed in May 2018 for the second pillar and 3.5% of the first pillar, but indicated that "thanks to the pressure of Spain he got that of the second pillar has disappeared, and now we are discussing that of 3.5% of the first pillar. Our goal is that there is no reduction, "he insisted at the end of his speech at the presentation of the Financial Observatory 'Report January 2020' of the General Council of Economists.
Regarding the type of farmers that would be affected by these cuts, the head of Agriculture has stressed that in Spain there are professional farmers of many dimensions in the national territory. "My concern is the family and professional agriculture of Spain , which is the middle class. In the Spanish countryside there is no one left over, although there are people who are having a worse time and we have to support them more," he said.
The head of Agriculture has recalled that the renewal of the CAP will mean for Spain about 45,000 million euros for the next seven years , which would reach 50,000 million euros by adding funds from the national budget and the Autonomous Communities, for what he considers to be a "very important liquidity injection" for the sector.
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