Lisbon, Oct. 31, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister for agriculture on Thursday promised to increase the implementation of the different EU programmes for the sector compared to the previous socialist executive, while the opposition criticised the government's action to stop the bluetongue epidemic.
These divergent positions were exchanged between José Manuel Fernandes and MPs from the PS, PCP, Chega, Livre and PAN on the second and final day of general debate on the government's proposal for the 2025 state budget.
In his speech, the minister argued that the government, unlike in the past, is simplifying and paying farmers "on time", seeking to provide "stability and confidence".
"In the reprogramming of PEPAC (Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy), our first objective is to increase farmers' income and generational renewal. The draft state budget will contribute €60 million annually until 2029. The average farmer's income will thus rise from €81.7 per hectare to €126, an increase of more than 50%," he added.
José Manuel Fernandes pointed out that young farmers, exclusively, "will now receive €50,000 (a 100% increase) and, on the other hand, in terms of the execution of funds, he pointed out that, during the time of the Socialist governments, the annual value of investment executed between 2016 and 2023 was €222.5 million".
"For the period between 2024 and 2029 it will be €246.3 million. We are executing what the previous government didn't," he said, before highlighting some programmes.
"We received €668 million from the RDP (Rural Development Plan 2020) which we have to implement by 2025. We also have to implement a further €400 million. That's more than €1 billion from the EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) that we're going to implement in about a year and a half," he said.
In PEPAC, according to the former Social Democrat MEP, the former PS government "executed zero and made zero payments".
Figures that didn't convince Liberal MP Mário Amorim Lopes, who called for greater tax incentives for farmers to enable more people to settle in rural areas.
While CDS MP João Almeida considered that the fact that the Minister for Agriculture was speaking in the budget debate demonstrated the new centrality of this sector in government policy, Socialist Nelson Brito countered this idea by using the football phrase: "In government, Minister for Cohesion 1 Minister for Agriculture 0".
Like Nelson Brito, PCP MP Alfredo Maia maintained that farmers' associations no longer have any hope in the government and pointed out that the blue tongue epidemic "contradicts the propaganda".
"Detected in September, the government has done nothing. It let the disease take hold and it's already all over the country," he warned - a position that was also echoed by Chega MP Pedro Frazão and Livre parliamentary leader Isabel Mendes Lopes.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, bluetongue disease has already affected at least 279 cattle and sheep farms, mainly in the Évora and Beja regions, and has caused the death of 1,775 animals.
The Minister of Agriculture claimed that "serotype 3 only appeared on 13 September and there is still no effective vaccine" against this microorganism. However, according to the government official, "around €11 million has already been invested in combating the other serotypes".
Pedro Frazão, of the Chega party, rejected the idea that the budget had earmarked more money for the primary sector, pointing out that the overall amount now includes funds for forests, and spoke of cuts for fishermen - a criticism also levelled by Walter Chicharro, a Socialist MP and former mayor of Nazaré.
The Livre parliamentary leader accused the government of "giving in to the extreme right" by opening up Madeira's Selvagens islands to fishing, while PAN MP Inês Sousa Real said that the executive "forgets animal welfare and agricultural sustainability", as well as "looking at the forest in a purely economic way".
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