The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry has requested the Minister of Agriculture to intensify the efforts with European bodies towards the increase of the POSEI budget under the scope of the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2021-2027, a concern that is now heightened in face of the recent agreement of the EU Council and Parliament on the CAP Transition Regulation. 
 
“In the aforementioned agreement, it was not stated that the budget allocation for the POSEI programme should not be reduced and that, preferably, it should be increased, which, for us, is a matter of great concern to us,” says the letter sent to the Minister of Agriculture, Maria do Céu Albuquerque. 

The Regional Secretary noted that the Azorean Government's concern is aggravated by the fact that it is the European Council's responsibility to include the amounts and approaches stipulated in the Transition Regulation in the future Multiannual Financial Framework. 

João Ponte pointed out that, despite the various efforts of several Community entities to prevent the reduction of POSEI allocations, the fact is that the European Commission's initial proposal to reduce the allocation of POSEI programme by 3.9% is formally maintained. 
 
The former European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, on his visit to the Azores in June 2018, stated that there would be no reduction of POSEI funds for the next CAP. This position was also defended in the report approved by the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture on April 1, 2019, as well as in the declaration on the CAP Transition Regulation and the Multiannual Financial Framework adopted by the same body on June 30. However, nothing is guaranteed. 

In view of the prospect of reaching an agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework for the next seven years this month, there is an urgent need to intensify the efforts of the Portuguese Government with Community bodies, particularly with the Council European. According to the Regional Secretary, we must “raise awareness for the imperative need to avoid the reduction of the POSEI budget allocation and defend an increase of funds on the same terms as those applicable to direct payments for Portugal under the 1st CAP pillar, i.e., an increase of 4.8%."