As the end of its presidency approaches, Portugal will call another decisive two-day ‘super trilogue’ to wrap up for good talks on the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. The agriculture minister Maria do Céu Antunes takes a stock of the negotiations in an exclusive interview with EURACTIV.
EURACTIV’s agrifood editor, Gerardo Fortuna, sat down with Maria do Céu Antunes in Brussels, where she is spending the whole week preparing the remaining CAP talks between the Portuguese presidency representing the EU27, the European Parliament, and Commission.
We are on the eve of two crucial negotiation meetings on Friday (30 April) and on Monday (3 May). What are your feelings about the state of play of CAP talks?
The Canarian banana sector falters after three decades of being protected by Europe
The Canarian banana started this year with difficulties. The obligation to establish a minimum price and the impossibility of selling at a loss, as proposed by the draft reform of the food chain law, harms a product that has been protected by Europe for almost three decades.
Their relationship officially began in 1993 with the entry into force of the Common Market Organization (CMO) in the banana sector in the EU, which ensured a balance between the different banana supply sources on the market. Back then, the Minister of Agriculture, Pedro Solbes, defended a protection scheme that, with the passage of time, no longer seduces the EC. At that time, the banana producers of the islands, with the support of the prime ministers Irishmen Ibert Reynolds and John Bruton, broke the isolation of France, Spain, and Portugal in defense of this crop in the islands.
Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC), gepubliceerd op vrijdag 18 december 2020.
Om welke aanbevelingen gaat het?
De aanbevelingen die vandaag zijn gepubliceerd, maken deel uit van de gestructureerde dialoog tussen de Commissie en de lidstaten in het kader van de hervorming van het gemeenschappelijk landbouwbeleid (GLB) en de Europese Green Deal.
Zij zijn bedoeld om de lidstaten te helpen bij het opstellen van hun strategische GLB-plannen en bevatten de belangrijkste gebieden waarop elke lidstaat zich moet concentreren om de GLB-doelstellingen te verwezenlijken en bij te dragen tot het behalen van de streefcijfers van de Green Deal. Zij bevatten ook een analyse van elke landbouwsector en elk plattelandsgebied in het licht van de doelstellingen van het volgende GLB, en specifieke referentiewaarden voor elk streefdoel van de Green Deal.