The Popular Parliamentary Group has registered a Proposition in Congress in which it presents its Shock Plan to relaunch the Spanish agri-food sector, which includes 29 urgent measures in budgetary, fiscal and community matters, including the establishment of compensation mechanisms before the alarming rising costs of the sector.
The initiative, signed by Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo and the GPP Agriculture spokeswoman, Milagros Marcos, highlights in his explanatory statement the decrease in agricultural income under the mandate of the Socialist Government, as well as the increase in agricultural unemployment. It is, therefore, to solve the problems generated by the inaction of the Government of Sánchez.
It also highlights the importance of a good negotiation of the CAP for the viability of a good part of farms, which adds to the price crisis and also the tariff imposed by the US administration on Spanish products such as oil, olive or wine.
For this reason, the Popular Group considers that it is necessary to take urgent measures to alleviate these difficulties and to maintain a modern, competitive and sustainable sector, and the Government is urged in the first place to develop a Plan for the Management of Agrarian Crisis and Stabilization Revenue that allows immediate response when unforeseen situations arise.
IMPACT OF SMI AND OTHER MEASURES
Among the proposals of the GPP is to analyze the impact of the rise in the Minimum Interprofessional Salary, by region and sector, on the profitability and viability of farms, in order to establish compensation mechanisms.
Other measures would be to establish a new Agricultural Insurance Plan that makes its hiring attractive, with income insurance associated with price variations; reduction of fiscal modules in troubled sectors; to deduct the premiums for the first installation of young people and for investments in farms; subsidized loans for sectors in crisis; bonus Social Security contributions; special electricity rate so that maximum power is not paid when the activity is less than 12 months, or promotion of alternative energy.
It is also intended to modernize irrigation, guarantee agile internet access in all rural municipalities, approve a Wildlife Control Plan and effectively renegotiate tariffs that penalize sales of Spanish products well above our European competitors. .
In relation to the food chain, among the proposed measures is the strengthening of economic surveillance instruments and early warning systems; implementation of guarantee measures for income stabilization that complement the CAP, making it easier for producers to manage volatility and the future of their activity; carry out the transposition of the directive on unfair commercial practices in the agricultural and food supply chain; face legislative reforms to effectively prevent the sale at a loss, and reach a consensus to guarantee price stability.
Finally, the European Union and its member countries are urged to have greater control, in quantity and quality, of imports from third countries, guaranteeing competition on equal terms.
It is, in addition to promoting European aid for specially depopulated areas, to restore precise diplomatic and commercial relations so that our products are not subject to tariffs different from those of our competing countries.
Regarding the CAP, the GPP urges the Government to negotiate the necessary resources to ensure a viable income and long-term sustainability of the sector, never with a lower endowment than the current one.
This package of measures is produced after a dialogue between the PP and the agrarian associations, unlike the Government in its recent Royal Decree.
