The government will soon publish an ordinance that will make life easier for more than 100,000 farmers by simplifying the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Agriculture Minister José Manuel Fernandes announced today.
The publication of the decree, said the minister, which results in the removal of barriers, simplification of cross-compliance rules and the withdrawal of sanctions, is “the first step” in the measures to be adopted “in the next two months”, as part of the changes to the CAP and which will benefit “more than 100,000 small and medium-sized farmers”.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting of the European Union (EU) Council of Agriculture Ministers in Luxembourg, José Manuel Fernandes also announced that a series of investments are planned under the executive’s water plan.
“We can’t always be chasing losses,” he said, announcing that investment in irrigation was being accelerated, “guaranteeing that any decision will be in farmers’ favor, giving them “predictability and stability” in terms of water storage and supply.
José Manuel Fernandes, who met with his European counterparts in Luxembourg, said that there would be a drought meeting by May 10 to assess the immediate actions to be taken.
