EU greenlights €30M package for farmers hit by storms at start of year

The Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets has approved €30 million in aid for Portuguese farmers affected by the storms that hit the country five months ago.

Last Friday, the Minister for Agriculture and the Sea, José Manuel Fernandes, announced that the vote on this aid would take place the following week.

An official source at the ministry told Lusa that the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets – Horizontal Issues – a European Union body that assists the European Commission – had already given the green light to the allocation of this aid, which came as a result of the government ‘activating’ what is called the agricultural reserve ( a financial instrument under the Common Agricultural Policy, designed to respond to market disruptions, price fluctuations and crises affecting both food production and distribution)

According to the government, the European Commission recognised “the fairness and justification” of the request submitted by Portugal (albeit many months ‘late’), granting the maximum possible support.

This agricultural reserve has an annual allocation of €450 million, which the 27 member states can access.

The draft implementing regulation had already provided for an extraordinary support package, intended not only for Portugal but also for Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia.

The document stipulated that Portugal will receive the largest share of this European package, namely €30 million.

This is a lot more than the government had previously given (€20 million), and comes after President Seguro visited farmers in Santarém last week, and particularly mentioned the difficult year they were having – leaving it to representatives of the farmers’ confederation (CAP) to stress the discrepancy in support between Portugal and, for example, neighbouring Spain (where farmers received a package to deal with hardships caused by the conflict in the Middle East with a package worth €500 million).

Source: LUSA/ Público

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.