Cristina Alonso Madrid
Madrid
Updated Thursday, February 15, 2024-20:56
Positive, constructive meeting with some progress, but insufficient for the farmers, who will keep the Government's pulse on the streets. It is the conclusion of the meeting held this Thursday between the Minister of Agriculture,
Luis Planas
, and the representatives of the main professional organizations in the sector,
Asaja, Coag and UPA
.
In the midst of a wave of mobilizations, which this morning arrived in the form of a tractor-trailer to the doors of the Ministry, the head of the portfolio received the unions to listen to their demands and try to offer solutions to calm things down. At the moment, without success, because the protests continue, but the meeting opens the door to continue working in the coming days on an eventual agreement that will end the conflict that has been open for two weeks.
The minister has extended his hand to the sector and has shown himself willing to collaborate to solve the problems posed by farmers and ranchers. He has recognized that the mobilizations "reflect a problem", but he wanted to value mediation and dialogue in the face of "political interference by extremist sectors that seek to take advantage of the situation for their spurious interests." And he has announced that he will continue to hold meetings with professional organizations next week, at a more technical level, to continue working on the issues addressed this Thursday.
As a roadmap, at today's meeting he put on the table a package of measures divided into several blocks. A first block dedicated to the Food Chain Law, where it has proposed reinforcing its application by increasing the control and inspection capacity by creating a new State Food Information and Control Agency based on the current AICA, reinforcing coordination with the autonomous communities and updating ex officio inspection plans to identify sectors where inspections can be carried out "on a preferential basis." Regarding sanctions for non-compliance, it has announced that the accumulated totals of infractions committed by companies will be published and has opened the door for the first time to review the amount of the fines if it is found that the deterrent mechanism is not " sufficient", although he has admitted that the priority at this time is strengthening control.
The second block includes a proposal to the European Union to make the conditionality of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) more flexible, a simplification of the administrative burden for farmers and ranchers and management of the strategic plan, as well as an expansion of the catalog of eco-schemes . And as a novelty, the minister has announced that the implementation of the digital notebook will be voluntary, although its implementation will be encouraged. The third block revolves around trade issues and in it, the Government commits to defending mirror clauses in international forums and will urge the EU to improve efficiency in customs to improve controls. In addition, Planas has announced that for substances not authorized in the EU, Spain will, as a preventive measure, set the limit at zero.
The plan is made up of two other blocks. A third, on agricultural insurance, and a fourth, which confirms the maintenance of the incentives in force for professional diesel and the validity throughout the year of the deductions on the invoice. In addition, Planas has announced the call for the extensive livestock farming forum and the activation of an initiative with the autonomous communities to strengthen programs for incorporating young people into agriculture and livestock farming in collaboration with financial entities.
For agricultural professional organizations, the measures are positive, but insufficient. The president of Asaja,
Pedro Barato
, assessed at the end of the meeting that "important progress" had been made, but announced that an eventual agreement must be supported by the governing bodies of the organization, where different territories with interests and problems are represented. very diverse. He announced the convocation of the Board of Directors for next Monday and advanced, however, that regardless of the decisions that are adopted internally, the calendar of mobilizations in unity of action with Coag and UPA is maintained.
Along the same lines, the general secretary of Coag,
Miguel Padilla
, stated after the meeting that "steps forward have been taken, but there is still a long way to go." In this sense, he stressed that the working groups must continue meeting in the coming days to advance the package proposed by the minister. "A new path is opening up in the sense that measures that were impossible now seem to be viable, but concrete details are lacking," he concluded. From UPA,
Monste Cortiña
spoke in a similar tone, assessing that there have been "important advances that must be completed" and "until they are achieved we cannot stop fighting, and we do that with the demonstrations and with the negotiation." .