The parliamentary group of the PCP has today submitted two requests for the hearing of the minister in the Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries, signed by the parliamentary leader, Paula Santos.
In the first request, the PCP calls for the Minister of Agriculture and Sea to address the situation concerning PDR 2020 support, noting that “PDR contracted hundreds of millions of euros in support that it will not be able to pay,” as reported by Público newspaper.
This situation could leave farmers who have already invested their money “waiting months or even years to receive the contracted funds,” and their inclusion in the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC), the PCP adds.
According to the party, this problem is confirmed “by complaints that reached the PCP parliamentary group” and by positions taken by the National Agriculture Confederation (CNA) and the National Confederation of Farmers (CAP) “denouncing delays in payments for PDR 2020 investment support.”
Moreover, the PCP parliamentary group, currently comprising three members, mentions that “this week, issues also emerged regarding applications for CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) support, in this case, direct aid.”
In a second request, the PCP asks for Minister José Manuel Fernandes to be heard “regarding the difficulties and needs of the viticulturists in the Douro Demarcated Region, the role that can be played by the Casa do Douro, and what measures the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has planned.”
The PCP highlights the demonstration held last week in Peso da Régua, in the Vila Real district, by “hundreds of Douro viticulturists, who once again raised the urgency for solutions to their severe situation.”
Douro viticulturists face “difficulties in offloading ‘stocks’, selling grapes and wine at prices that meet production costs, the reduction of ‘benefit’, and the drop in prices of table wines and untreated grapes, alongside the announcement in April by exporting houses to cease purchasing grapes from hundreds of viticulturists, as is customary,” the PCP states.
The communists accuse the Government of persisting in the “attempt to devalue” the Casa do Douro, which they consider to have an irreplaceable role “in the defense and enhancement of the small and medium wine producers in the Douro Demarcated Region.”
“In May, the PCP questioned the then Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries about this issue and warned of the worsening of these problems, as current realities demonstrate. However, the Government responded with the same passivity it always shows towards the issues of small and medium viticulturists, merely stating awareness and acknowledging that no additional measures would be taken,” they criticize.
