The acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, considers that the proposals of the rotating presidency of the European Union for the reform of the CAP are going in the right direction and present clear improvements with respect to the original proposal of the Commission European
The acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has chaired the Agricultural Policy Advisory Council, in which he analyzed, together with the councilors of the autonomous communities, the issues that will be discussed in the next Council of Ministers of Agriculture. the European Union, among which is the presentation, by the Romanian Presidency, of a "Progress Report" in relation to the legislative proposals of the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The next Council of Ministers of Agriculture of the European Union, to be held in Luxembourg, coincides with the end of the Romanian presidency, which will present a report on the progress made in the negotiation of the CAP.
In this regard, the minister has highlighted the work done during these months to reflect the Spanish position in the texts that are the subject of debate.
He stressed that the new drafts presented by the Romanian presidency include some significant improvements proposed by Spain such as including the gender approach, which for the first time will be included in the CAP regulations, the possibility of considering the economic dimension of the exploitations in the design of the redistributive payment and the flexibility of the concept of eligible hectare in the eco-schemes to facilitate their access to livestock.
In addition, in particular, the minister has highlighted the inclusion, within the report of the Romanian presidency, of a measure of self-regulation of the olive oil sector, similar to the one that already exists for wine, and that could be applied when it enters into the new CAP.
The minister also referred to the discussions held on the occasion of the Informal Council of Ministers held in Bucharest last week. In the course of the debates, the minister also highlighted the coincidence of many member states in recognizing that the circumstances still exist to reach an agreement on the CAP, especially given that it is necessary to make further progress in the negotiation budget, in which Spain continues defending the need to preserve the current budget of the CAP.
The minister has informed that Spain will include in the next Council of Ministers a point to inform about the conclusions of the Conference on "Green architecture of the CAP post 2020: deepening in eco-schemas", held in Zafra between May 29 and 31 last.
In this way, Spain will be able to transfer the sensitivity of the southern countries in the design of these instruments of the future CAP, so that Mediterranean agrosystems, such as the dehesa, can be correctly reflected in the new CAP.
Planas said that during the Council will review the conclusions of the meeting of agriculture ministers of the G20, held on 11 and 12 May in Niigata (Japan), which had as a conclusion a statement focused on innovation, chains of value and collaboration and knowledge exchange.