The Secretary General for Agriculture and Food, Fernando Miranda, has insisted on the need for the European Union to establish urgent measures to alleviate the drought situation, in line with the requests expressed by Minister Luis Planas in a letter sent April 24 to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development, Janusz Wojciechowski.
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In his letter, the minister asks the Commission to activate the crisis reserve fund of the Common Agrarian Policy (PAC) and the authorization for the autonomous communities to use unexecuted European rural development funds to enable direct aid to farmers and ranchers.
Fernando Miranda has attended on April 25 the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the European Union, held in Luxembourg, which has analyzed the situation of the markets, especially the difficulties that the countries bordering Ukraine are going through due to the fall in prices agrarian.
Miranda has pointed out that Spain is in solidarity with the farmers of Ukraine and aware of the impact of the war on the farmers of the border countries.
However, it has pointed out the importance of not adopting unilateral decisions and the need for the Commission to offer measures in the short, medium and long term that make it possible to face the difficulties of farmers in the different Member States.
Likewise, he has stressed the importance of solidarity corridors, necessary for the stability of international markets.
In addition, the council has reviewed the current situation of the strategic plans of the CAP in its first year of application.
The Secretary General has indicated that Spain is carrying out exhaustive monitoring of the difficulties that farmers may be encountering in order to find the most appropriate solutions.
In this area, he has expressed the convenience of greater subsidiarity and flexibility in the application of the CAP. He has also asked that the procedures for the modification of the plans be more agile, fast and flexible to face the current difficulties.
On the other hand, Miranda has pointed out that the new genomic techniques represent an opportunity to obtain plant varieties that are more adapted to climate change and, at the same time, and to achieve a lower use of phytosanitary products and fertilizers.
In the same way, during the Council, impressions were exchanged on the future regulation of carbon absorptions.
Fernando Miranda has expressed Spain's interest in this initiative, which reinforces the role of farmers and agriculture in the face of the climate challenge.
Spain considers it necessary to achieve a sufficient remuneration for farmers and strong and affordable certification systems. ■