The Minister of Fisheries, María Jesús Susinos, has called on the Government of Spain to expedite "with the utmost urgency" the processing of aid for fishing diesel and has expressed her rejection of the 67% cut in European funds allocated to fishing.
As reported this Thursday by the regional Executive, Susinos participated on Wednesday in the Sectoral Conference of Fisheries and in the Consultative Councils of Agricultural and Fisheries Policy for Community Affairs, chaired by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, where she defended the interests of Cantabria and its primary sector.
Within the framework of the Sectoral Conference of Fisheries, the minister insisted on aspects she considers "vital" for the fleet, including the sharp increase in fuel costs.
"The fishing sector cannot continue to bear the impact of rising diesel prices alone; it is essential that the Government urgently implement the specific aid it has already announced, to guarantee its viability," she remarked.
In this regard, she urged the central Executive to implement these aids "as much as possible," after the Ministry indicated that they could be available during the summer.
Defense of the FEMPA and rejection of the 67% cut
Regarding the future of the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (FEMPA), Susinos has called on the Government of Spain to defend before the European Commission that it continue as a specific fund and not move to a multi-fund scheme, since, as she warned, "its integration would dilute support for a strategic sector like fishing."
At the same time, she conveyed Cantabria's "firm opposition" to the proposed cuts, considering "a 67% reduction in fishing funds unacceptable, as going from more than 6,000 million euros to just over 2,000 seriously compromises investments and the future of the sector."
Therefore, she asked the minister to continue defending "firmly" the persistence of a specific fund and an allocation "at least equivalent to the current 6,000 million, clearly necessary for the sector to continue making the investments its activity requires."
Concern about the CAP and coordination with the autonomous communities
During the meeting, the counselor also expressed her concern about the design of the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) beyond 2027. "We are concerned about the evolution of the technical working groups and the uncertainty in the current approaches, as the temporal horizon managed by the European Commission is not accompanied by a sufficient pace of work with the autonomous communities," she stated.
Consequently, Susinos has asked Planas for "a more demanding and coordinated pace in the technical working groups," given that the complexity of the new scenarios "requires many more hours of work and a greater joint effort to reach adequate levels of consensus that provide security to the sector."