Around 2,000 farmers and ranchers from Castile-La Mancha traveled to Madrid this Monday to participate in a new mobilization called by the agricultural professional organizations ASAJA, UPA and COAG, with the support of Agro-food Cooperatives of Castilla-La Mancha, thus continuing the fight in unity of action to achieve solutions to the serious crisis that the sector.
The agricultural organization will charter around 30 buses, in addition to the participants who will come by train or in private vehicles, and will demonstrate with the motto ‘The countryside demands support, respect and recognition’ through the center of Madrid until finish in the European Commission building coinciding with the meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers of the EU.
Precisely at that meeting some of the demands of farmers and ranchers will be negotiated, such as trade agreements with third countries.
In this sense, the president of Asaja Castilla-La Mancha, José María Fresneda, has expressed himself, demanding that the European Ministers of Agriculture “resign and all go home if they are not capable of defending the sector”, responding thus to the words of the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, who advanced that at the meeting of ministers in Brussels it will be difficult to achieve a generalization of mirror clauses in trade agreements with third countries to avoid unfair competition since, as he stated, they do not There is a majority of countries in favor.
From Asaja Castilla-La Mancha describe the situation as inadmissible. «It cannot be understood that the Ministers of Agriculture, who are the ones who must prioritize the defense of the agricultural and livestock sector, do not have the strength in their governments to prevent unfair competition from foreign products. If those who must defend the sector are incapable of doing so, they should go home,” Fresneda insisted.
In this regard, the agricultural organization has proposed as a possible solution to this lack of agreement among the 27, that the ministers propose an increase in the CAP budget so that farmers and ranchers are compensated for the losses caused by unfair competition. «If they double the budget and allocate more funds, for example, to Basic Income Assistance, this unfair competition could be compensated. “It’s a matter of political will.”
On the other hand, ministers must also decide on the flexibility of the Community Agrarian Policy (PAC) —rules of reinforced conditionality—, which is also why farmers and ranchers protest.
ASAJA has already shown its absolute rejection of the current Community Agrarian Policy (CAP), since it imposes requirements that are impossible to meet in the region, does not meet the needs of farmers and ranchers and seriously attacks their production model.
Finally, the protesters will also gather in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, where they will demand essential reforms such as a change in the operation of the Agri-Food Chain Law; an Agricultural Insurance system that responds to the needs of producerstaxation in line with the cost increases borne by the sector and urgent investments in irrigation.
«We are going to pressure and make visible our discontent with the decisions that are made in Spain and in Brussels and that are the ones that are having a negative impact on the survival of the sector. All this from the unity of action and with peaceful mobilizations without putting the participants at risk,” Fresneda concluded.
