Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Affairs asks in Brussels to boost European funding for ultra-peripheral regions

The Portuguese Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Affairs José Manuel Fernandes, the French Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry Annie Genevard, and the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Luis Planas Puchades signed today the letter delivered to the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen by the Portuguese Minister. The three countries stand together in defending the maintenance of a specific and reinforced benefit for the ultra-peripheral regions in the upcoming EU Multiannual Financial Framework.

In this document, the three ministers stress that the ultra-peripheral regions face permanent structural constraints due to insularity, remoteness, and production limitations, thereby upholding a differentiated approach and unique instruments within the European policies. The letter notes the strategic importance these regions have in the European Union whether due to their geographical location or their contribution to European food sovereignty.

The three countries advocate for continuing the POSEI - Program of Options Specifically Relating to Remoteness and Insularity - through autonomous and dedicated regulations, as in the current European financial framework. The Ministers consider that this instrument is essential to guarantee agricultural competitiveness in the ultra-peripheral regions and ensure the economic viability of farms in the regions.

The letter also calls on a reinforcement of European funding for the agricultural sector in ultra-peripheral regions, recalling that the annual POSEI funding ceiling has not been updated since 2011, despite the significant rise in production costs and worsening of the difficulties faced by farmers over the last two decades.

The three Member States likewise uphold maintaining the European co-funding specific rates for agricultural measures in the ultra-peripheral areas, including the 100% funding of the current POSEI scheme.

"What we advocate is maintaining the POSEI with autonomous regulations, as happens in the current Multiannual Financial Framework, guaranteeing an instrument that is adapted to the specificities of ultra-peripheral regions", claimed the Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Affairs José Manuel Fernandes.

José Manuel Fernandes also noted that "it is indispensable that we update the financial amount allocated to the POSEI, which necessarily implies increasing European funding, taking into account the rising production costs and the added challenges faced by farmers in the ultra-peripheral regions".

The joint initiative by Portugal, Spain, and France intends to ensure that the upcoming European Union multiannual budget continues to acknowledge the specificities of ultra-peripheral regions and preserves suitable instruments to support agriculture in these regions.