The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of the Regional Government of Andalusia and president of the Assembly of European Horticultural Regions (Areflh), Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, has defended this Monday in Brussels the importance of a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) "strong, stable and truly European" that provides security to the horticultural sector and allows it to address the challenges faced by fruit and vegetable producers.
Fernández-Pacheco intervened in the meeting of the Working Group of the Common Market Organization (OCM) of Areflh, held at the Delegation of the Regional Government of Andalusia in Brussels, which he chaired. Representatives of producing regions and of producers’ organizations took part in the meeting, with the aim of studying the reform proposals put forward by the Community institutions and moving toward a joint position in defense of the sector’s interests, as the Junta has stated in a note.
"We are at a decisive moment and the work we are doing from Areflh is bearing fruit. We are managing to ensure that our demands are taken into account in Europe and we must continue working together to defend the interests of our producers," the minister stressed. He also highlighted that both the Council and the European Parliament have included in their proposals several of Areflh’s key demands, among them the establishment of a common minimum level of public support for producers, the continuity of the linkage of aid to the value of marketed production, and the obligation for Member States to apply sectoral interventions.
At the same time, he warned that essential issues remain pending, especially with regard to the financial framework that will be applied from 2028. "We have a lot at stake in the next CAP. There are important advances, but we still do not know one essential matter for our farmers: what funding we will have as of 2028," he said. In this line, Fernández-Pacheco reaffirmed Areflh’s position in favor of preserving funding that is entirely European, which ensures the stability of operational programs and avoids inequalities between producers from the different Member States.
The adviser has again emphasized the importance of maintaining a Common Organisation of Markets "strong, stable and predictable", which preserves its European dimension and guarantees fair competition between producers, as well as the cohesion of the internal market. At the session, in which 57 representatives and technicians participated in person and remotely, the main challenges of the reform of the OCM have been discussed, such as the transition to the new CAP, the financing of operational programmes, the conditions of public aid and the role of producer organisations and their transnational associations.
The meeting has made it possible to deepen the analysis of the proposals of the European institutions and to continue moving forward with a shared position that ensures the continuity of the support instruments for the fruit and vegetable sector and avoids new administrative and financial burdens for producers.