The diplomatic teams begin to leave the room. "There is an agreement," one says to another. The ministers of the Twenty-Seven have reached a pact to allow the Union to allocate funds from its budget for the renewal of the fishing fleet. "A very good agreement," clarifies a voice present during the meetings to another. The negotiations in Brussels are long. The day before, they had extended into the night. The satisfaction of the completed work now reigns in the delegations.
The Council of Agriculture and Fisheries currently has some of the files on the table that will mark the political future of the Union. The focus is constantly on "the mother of all negotiations," as some define it in the community capital. It is about the European budget for the next seven years, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework. Through it, the European Commission plans to reform the Common Agricultural Policy, as it has been conceived until now.
In the midst of all these discussions, and with an eye beyond Brussels, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, speaks to DEMÓCRATA. In the conversation, he expresses optimism about the possibility that the leaders of the bloc will reach an agreement before the end of the year on the MFF. "There is a conjunction of circumstances in which, honestly, I believe it is worth trying to conclude the agreement here, in the month of December," he summarizes.
Question. Spain's entry into the European Union also meant the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in our country. Now, the European Commission intends to redefine this policy in the new Multiannual Financial Framework.
Answer: The president of the Government already indicated, at the moment when the Commission presented this draft of the European budget for 2028-2034, that Spain did not like it because it thought that the ambition had to be greater. Considering the challenges we have at this moment, a more limited model has been chosen, where a good part of the investments are basically located outside the European framework.
The problem is that, from now until December, an agreement will have to be reached so that revenues and expenses align, which is not at all simple. And it is not because, first, unanimity is needed in the European Council to reach an agreement. But unanimity is also needed to reject the Commission's proposal.
Q: You said in a parliamentary committee that your Government would not veto the MFF. Is it not contradictory that Spain does not want to block the Commission's budgets and, at the same time, defends a CAP that, with the new structure, loses part of its identity?
A: The European Parliament, last year, made a bet. In November, it was about to carry out a vote to reject the Commission's proposal.
Finally, the Commission made an opening in terms of regional policy and Common Agricultural Policy and, in this way, avoided a rejection that, in reality, would not have had any more effect. But it would have been a very strong signal about the budget.
We are here. Next year there are elections in Spain, France, Italy, Poland, and also again in Germany. There is a conjunction of circumstances in which, honestly, I believe and think —and this is also the thought of the one leading the process, President António Costa— that it is worth trying to conclude the agreement here, in the month of December.
Q: What do you expect from the conversations that will begin to take place more in-depth ahead of the European Council meetings in October, November, and December?
A: It is a difficult discussion, to say the least. Let’s remember July 2020: it took almost six days of discussion to reach the agreement. Now a first in-depth discussion will begin. I hope the outcome is favorable to the interests of Europe, but also, obviously, to those of Spain. And, in my case, as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, that both the Common Agricultural Policy and the fisheries policy are adequately funded.
Q: Let’s talk about the role of the European Parliament. Among the recent votes affecting your portfolio is the approval of new genomic techniques (NGT). The socialist group requested a bit more time to review the proposal, when in 2023 it was one of its priorities during the Spanish Presidency of the Council.
A: They are one of the great responses we have to adapt to climate change in food production. Europe discovered this summer what drought is. In Spain and Portugal, we have great experience on how to deal with it.
For me, there are three major areas in which we have a response. The first is the modernization of irrigation and the good management of water. Taking into account the needs in human terms, but, above all, investment in the use of water for food production.
The second aspect is agricultural insurance, which has also appeared time and again this week. The combined agricultural insurance, which was born in Spain with the law of 1978, is probably one of the most effective risk management instruments that exist for food production. The European Investment Bank mentioned this recently in a very interesting report.
Now we are, from the Government, in the next battle: achieving that in these financial perspectives there is a European reinsurance of the national risk management systems. And the third topic is the one you asked me about, related to new genomic techniques.
Question: What do these techniques mean for the sector?
Answer: They mean being able to obtain, through a simple mutation, plants and seeds that are more resistant to high temperatures and lower rainfall. With these and other instruments, such as precision agriculture, we can have tools to withstand such a difficult moment as this.
All this without forgetting that decarbonization and, above all, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions continue to be not only a commitment made in Paris but really a necessity.
Q: After the previous CAP reform, that of the period 2023-2027, you said it was time to present the Family Farming Law. Now you point out that the times are not favorable because we are on the verge of a new reform. Why did you propose it then?
A: In practice, a lot has been done in favor of family and professional agriculture and livestock. Indeed, I would like to be able to present a draft law, if possible, but for that we need several things.
There is a fundamental aspect that we are going to address, which is the issue of the incorporation of young people and women. The European Commission proposes to increase the funds of the next CAP to 6%. In Spain, the Government has said that we are going to dedicate 10%. If we combine that with all the definitions that the new CAP has to include, I believe we already have the skeleton of the next Family and Professional Agriculture Law.
It is not a writing exercise on paper. It is an exercise for the sector to really notice what we have done. What we have done is recognized by everyone, it is a tremendously important redistributive leap forward. And what we want to do for the future is to consolidate it.
Question: All these negotiations take place in parallel to another of your responsibilities. For more than half a year, you have been immersed in the path towards the general direction of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). How do you reconcile both facets?
Answer: With difficulty. I want to say this because I am not going to deny it. First of all, I have the honor and the responsibility of being a member of the Government of Spain and Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
A country like Spain, and we are seeing it this very week here in Brussels, with two full days dedicated to discussing agriculture and fishing, implies a lot of time dedicated to the ministerial task. For me, that is the absolute priority.
I have had the opportunity to meet up to six French ministers, four Italian ministers, and I think five or six Dutch ministers. It is a sample of what it means to try to carry out a task in a sector that is not simple.
I have the advantage of being a minister and the disadvantage of being a minister. I dedicate less time to the candidacy than if I were a candidate without ministerial occupation. Honestly, I have taken the candidacy very seriously. I meet the conditions. I have the will and the commitment. We are going to work so that, by the end of June 2027, we can achieve a majority of votes.
Q: The arithmetic of the election is not simple.
A: There are 193 voters, who elect the director general of the FAO by secret ballot.
Q: What can you offer to the partners you meet to ask for their support?
A: It seems to me that food security is one of the major issues we face today on our planet. And it is also one of my commitments. It manifests itself differently depending on the countries and regions.
For many people in the world, unfortunately, food security means hunger or malnutrition. And we still have not managed to achieve the number two goal of the Sustainable Development Goals. Zero hunger.
With the current technical means, we could have a planet without hunger. Instead, in the more advanced countries, such as the European Union and Spain, food security has another manifestation: the price of food.
There are three fundamental issues. Obtaining food in sufficient quantity. That it has sufficient quality for human consumption; and, thirdly, that it is available at a reasonable price. Food prices are increasing significantly and, for me, that is a concern.
Question: You were already part of a negotiating team in a similar process. What profiles have you incorporated into the team that accompanies you in this candidacy?
Answer: It is a team, as always, with a great international perspective. I have, logically, diplomats, but also officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, who, like me, dedicate part of their time to this task.
Although it may seem strange, I am very clear about it. At this moment, I do not know if later it will be necessary to do something else, but I am balancing one task with the other and, of course, being clear that my priority is the ministerial activity.
Q: You were ambassador in Morocco for six years and know the country well. During the 2021 crisis, it was said that you played a role alongside the Presidency of the Government and other ministries. What has been your role in the current crisis?
A: In the scope of my portfolio, I do not have competencies. As a member of the Government, I am always at the president's disposal for whatever is necessary. My colleagues with responsibilities in this matter have intervened more directly.
Q: I imagine you have maintained contacts with former colleagues in the country.
A: I have always reflected based on my own experience. Many people are not able to see, from the point of view of public opinion, the dimension of the strategic challenge that managing a border like the one that exists between Africa and Europe represents.
From the bilateral, human, diplomatic, security, migration, and economic point of view, we are talking about a relationship in terms of GDP that is in a proportion of one to ten. Sometimes we do not look south, but the south looks towards us.
There is a great difficulty in management. We maintain a positive and constructive relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco, although there may be incidents or specific situations. What has occurred now is an undesirable situation.
At the same time, I believe that time will prove us right. The fact that the Government of Spain is carrying out a task of managing migratory flows, also with respect to the Constitution, to the law, and to international agreements. It is not easy.
Question: Your life is in Córdoba, where you take care of an olive grove. What agricultural practices recommended by the CAP do you use on your farm?
Answer: I believe that the most interesting practices of the current CAP, as a novelty compared to the previous period, are the so-called eco regimes. All practices linked to carbon capture or regenerative agriculture, which are allowing not only to produce but also to preserve the soil, water, air, biodiversity, and landscape.
For example, green covers, which allow, especially in sloped areas, for less erosion to occur than would take place if they were not there. Or everything that refers to crop rotation to achieve good soil health in every sense.
The equation is very simple to state and very difficult to carry out: how we produce food sustainably, in such a way that this production is profitable for the producer, maintains the natural environment, and, in addition, is available in sufficient quantity and quality and, above all, at an acceptable price, in conditions that allow access to the majority of citizens.
So simple and so complicated.
off the record
Nostalgia for the future
After almost three-quarters of an hour, the recorder turns off but the conversation continues. The minister, smiling, recalls his years in the community capital. He has witnessed Spain's complete trajectory in the Union. First promoting the accession process, later as its ambassador in the Permanent Representation.
Not wanting to fall into nostalgia, as he promised at the beginning of the talk, he recalls conversations around the Schuman roundabout with colleagues who accompanied him on the journey during the 80s. "What we had achieved was so difficult that we couldn't believe it," he explains. The celebrations of that achievement also remain in memory. Planas likes to rescue a phrase at the end: "nostalgia for the future."