Minister of Agriculture warns against “green radicalism”

José Manuel Fernandes was speaking at the 13th edition of Universidade Europa, a political training initiative that brings together around 70 young people in Curia (Aveiro), counting today at the closing with interventions by the prime minister and leader of the PSD, Luís Montenegro, and the head of the AD European list (a coalition that will bring together PSD, CDS-PP and PPM), Sebastião Bugalho.

The former MEP and former coordinator of the PPE of the Budgets Committee, in a class on “Who pays for the EU?”, said that Portugal has at its disposal under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) around 22.2 billion of euros, but it could have had 30.5 billion euros, if it had exhausted the entire loan component.

“Portugal didn’t want it and there is frustration here (…) Spain wanted all the resources and is using them for the objective of efficient water storage”, he exemplified, considering that “Portugal lost an opportunity to use these 8, 3 billion euros and now you can’t go back.”

José Manuel Fernandes admitted that these loans represent more doubt, but the payment term was 30 years and the interest rate was “very low”.

“Why did we waste these resources? Why does Portugal 2030 have an execution rate close to zero? Because the previous government didn’t know how to plan, didn’t know how to listen to the local authorities, the CCDR”, he lamented, considering that he could have used these funds either in water management and in the capitalization of companies.

In the area of ​​agriculture, the minister reiterated his criticism of the previous executive, which he considered to have left “a very heavy legacy”, saying that there are 1,050 million euros that, by 2025, must reach the ground and be paid.

“We cannot lose a cent (…) The previous socialist government, as a result of its incompetence, as a result of its negligence, did not move quickly towards the execution of all these funds that are crucial for Portugal”, he said, remembering that the country is the Member State that most depends on public investment funds.

“They have to be to create value, to create wealth, it cannot be to replace the State Budget”, he criticized.

In his intervention, the minister took the opportunity to defend farmers, considering that “the constant attack being made on them” is unacceptable and that they are “the ones who best defend the environment”.

“Why was there a farmers’ revolt? Because they have been disregarded, they are often presented as if they were villains and enemies of the environment, because they are asked for demands in environmental terms and are not given resources, because there is a green radicalism that prevents climate goals from being achieved,” he said.

The Minister of Agriculture defended that, to achieve these objectives, “in addition to telling people the truth” it is necessary to be gradualist, not radical.

“Farmers are the first ones interested in the environment and in ensuring that the soil is in good condition”, he said, considering that this “revolt must be heard and understood”.

On Saturday, in the same PSD political training initiative, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Graça Carvalho, argued that agriculture can have less environmental impact if it uses “all available scientific knowledge”.