MADRID, 06 (SERVIMEDIA)
The Government spokesperson and Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Pilar Alegría, conveyed this Tuesday her “respect” to the farmers' protests that are spreading today in various places in the country and recalled the more than 4,000 million euros that the The Government has allocated aid to the primary sector because they are “aware” of the problems it has suffered in recent times “especially due to the war in Ukraine and the drought.”
This was indicated at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, which is held on a day in which several cities like Madrid have some of their entrances full of tractors demonstrating about the current situation of farmers.
Alegría expressed his “commitment” to the primary sector and promised that they will be “protecting, accompanying and supporting them.” “This Government understands the concerns of the sector, we take charge and from minute one we have been working hand in hand with them,” she indicated.
This morning the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food published the provisional list of 139,756 owners of agricultural holdings producing dry land, rice and industrial tomatoes, who may receive extraordinary aid to compensate for the difficulties due to the drought and the consequences of the war in Ukraine for an amount of 268.7 million euros.
With this aid, the minister underlined her commitment to the sector, but, when asked by the media, she did not convey a specific message about the impact that a possible incorporation of Ukraine into the European Union (EU) would have on agricultural policy, as well as about of quality standards for non-EU products. She reiterated, however, that "if this Government has shown anything, it is that, in addition to respecting them, it accompanies them and supports them from the first moment because we are aware of what the primary sector has experienced."
For Alegría, the 4,000 million euros “are not trivial figures” since “this clear support has never been transferred to the primary sector.” Furthermore, he highlighted the approval of the latest Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Brussels after a “very tough” negotiation, which will translate into an amount of 6.8 billion euros for the primary sector.
“With which, [we show] respect, of course, to the people who are demonstrating today, but we will always be next to the primary sector of our country as we have been demonstrating,” the spokesperson concluded.
(SERVIMEDIA)06-FEB-2024 14:22 (GMT 1) JMS/gja
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