Minister of Agriculture accuses previous Government of wasting PRR and criticizes “green radicalism”

This Sunday, the Minister of Agriculture accused the previous Government of having “wasted the opportunity” to use all of the PRR funds available to Portugal, and warned of what he called “green radicalism” against farmers.

José Manuel Fernandes was speaking at the 13th edition of Universidade Europa, a political training initiative that brings together around 70 young people in the Curia (Aveiro), with interventions at the end of it from the prime minister and leader of the PSD, Luís Montenegro, and the head from the AD list to the Europeans, Sebastião Bugalho.

The former MEP and former coordinator of the PPE of the Budgets Committee said that Portugal has at its disposal, within the scope of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), around 22.2 billion euros, but could have had 30.5 billion euros, if the entire loan portion had been exhausted.

“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 debt, 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 and the CCDR”, he lamented, considering that he could have used these funds both 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, not 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”.