"I will ask Commission to revise aid prices for withdrawal of fruit and vegetables", says Isabel García Tejerina

Isabel García Tejerina made this statement in Brussels at the entrance to the European Union Agriculture and Fisheries Council, which will discuss the situation of the markets, a point included on the agenda at the request of Spain.

Despite fruit and vegetables being sold at low prices which, in some cases, do not cover the production costs, the sector is not making use of this market mechanism. According to the minister, this means that these mechanisms do not work and do not represent an adequate incentive to regulate the markets. Hence, the minister stressed that she will ask the Commission to revise and raise these withdrawal prices.

Diary sector

As regards the dairy sector, Isabel García Tejerina considers that a sufficient time limit has now elapsed to assess the effectiveness of the measures adopted back in September. Hence, and given that the price situation has recovered only slightly, the minister stressed that "measures need to be adopted that are a little more effective".

For the minister, it is time to make an assessment and draw conclusions, "and if the measures adopted back in September were insufficient, the Commission should adopt additional measures because we are facing a global problem and this affects the EU market as a whole".

Specifically, Isabel García Tejerina pointed out that the storage measure agreed by the Commission has not been as highly demanded so as to withdraw a sufficient volume of product from the market. Hence, the Commission will need to assess the measures and analyse all the possibilities available under the various regulations.

Isabel García Tejerina stressed that no specific measures will be proposed on Monday, but rather that she will ask the Commission for a reaction. In this regard, the minister believes that the most probable outcome is that a time period will be opened for Member States to start a round of consultations, in order to present the Commission with proposals of additional measures that seek to help price recovery.

Meanwhile, Isabel García Tejerina pointed out that Spain is continuing with its programme of measures to the benefit of the dairy sector. In fact, a ministerial order was recently published on approved standard-form contracts. Moreover, we are in the midst of a campaign to promote the consumption of dairy products, and two royal decrees are being drafted: one on sale prices and another on first buyers.

In the case of the pork sector, the minister commented that, although the storage measures have given rise to a slight upturn in prices, "we are also going to ask the Commission to continue to closely monitor the issue".

Fishing authorisations

In relation to the fishing authorisations for European vessels that fish in waters beyond the European Union, and the converse, Isabel García Tejerina underlined that Spain is ahead on this issue, since it has been working for the last four years on having a duly-controlled fisheries policy based on the best scientific reports. According to the minister, this policy leads to greater sustainability, in other words, achieving the largest volume of catches in a controlled manner.

Hence, "what the Commission proposes as a philosophy is what we are already doing", she reiterated. "We have asked for this to be done in such a way as to avoid administrative costs and management costs for vessels that lose their competitiveness or find their fishing activities are made more difficult", she stressed.

Innovation

On another note, Isabel García Tejerina explained that Monday's meeting will be used to tackle the issue of research, on which Spain considers it is important to develop a specific programme for agriculture. According to the minister, this programme should focus on something as important as public-private collaboration. The dissemination of information should also be taken into account, in other words, that information on innovation should reach all agricultural and livestock small-holdings so that they can improve their competitiveness.

In this regard, the minister recalled how an Innovation and Research Programme has been launched in Spain in the agri-food and forestry sector.

Finally, Isabel García Tejerina pointed out that the Commission will inform the Council on the situation of the different trade agreements, both bilateral and multilateral, "a key issue for Spain since we are the eighth largest global power in terms of exports in the agri-food sector".