The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry, João Ponte, met today with the Minister of Agriculture, Luís Capoulas Santos, to deliver the document with the contributions of the Azores to the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2020, in which the Region defends a budget increase.
 
"This is a document that stemmed from the joint work carried out by the Regional Government and different partners of the sector. I would like to emphasise the very important contribution of the Azores Agricultural Federation, to which I will formally deliver this document next week," said João Ponte. He spoke on the sidelines of the meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development.
 
The Azorean Government reiterated that the Azores defend a "stronger CAP" that corresponds to the challenges of agriculture, especially in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, and that the budget is not reduced by other priorities emerging within the Union European Union, such as security, migration or even the Brexit.
 
According to João Ponte, "the CAP is fundamental to mitigate the various constraints and difficulties occurring in the Azores regarding other European regions," namely the environment, climate, geographic dispersion and distance from markets, among others. They entail higher costs of production to the archipelago.
 
On the other hand, the Regional Secretary defended that the CAP is also important for the Azores to continue developing and modernising the agro-forestry sector in order to increase the competitiveness of farms and their future sustainability.
 
"It is fundamental to increase funds under POSEI to respond to the growth in production in recent years, but also to guarantee new aid schemes and to ensure the competitiveness of the agri-food sector," said João Ponte.
 
With regard to the second pillar of CAP, rural development policy, João Ponte stated that the Azores also advocated a budget increase and the maintenance of the current co-financing rates applied to Outermost Regions.
 
"This second pillar is extremely important in order to respond to the improvement of the competitiveness of the sector, the investments that need to be made in the modernisation of the sector as well as in facilities and infrastructures to attract more young people to the agricultural sector. Moreover, it is also fundamental to ensure the profitability of farms and the maintenance of our agriculture," stressed the Secretary for Agriculture.