The Council of Ministers has given the green light this Tuesday to the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) for the agri-food sector, which has an endowment of 1,002.9 million euros, but which could mean another 2,000 of private investment.
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The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has assured in the press conference after the Council of Ministers that PERTE has three objectives. On the one hand, increase the competitiveness of the agri-food sector. On the other hand, its sustainability, from the point of view of climate change. Also, improve traceability and food safety, where Planas states that Spain already has the highest standards. The development of PERTE will be carried out by its Ministry, together with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.
As for the specific objectives, Planas has listed, again, three goals. The first, which will concentrate 400 million euros, is linked to “strengthening the industry”. “I always refer to the entire agri-food system, not just to a particular action”, which will be used to improve “production processes and improve competitiveness, we are already the fourth country in the EU and the eighth in the world”, he indicated. Flat.
The second objective of PERTE is “support for the digital adaptation of all agents, primary production, transformation, marketing and distribution, to the entire food chain”, which exceeds 450 million. And, the third, of “support for R&D” in “a leading industry, one of the most innovative”, in the words of Planas, to which another 148 million euros will be allocated.
The aid will be channeled through the agricultural associations
Regarding the distribution of aid, the minister has clarified that “each of the PERTE actions will be subject to the aid ceilings set by Brussels, depending on each action.” “You cannot have double funding for the same action, but you can have different funds for compatible objectives,” he clarified.
In total, the impact of Perte, with private investment, would exceed 3,000 million euros. “It is a sector of small and medium-sized companies and we have the ability to channel it through agricultural associations and cooperatives,” he has advanced.
Planas has also delved into the fact that both PERTE and the Common Agricultural Policy -which for Spain reaches 47,000 million euros until 2027- are part of a common strategy, “how to produce more food in conditions of environmental sustainability that implies less use of natural resources and, at the same time, fight against climate change”.
Social problems in rural areas
On criticism from the primary sector or the assault on the plenary session of Lorca, the Minister of Agriculture has assured that “it is very difficult to make a global diagnosis.” Regarding Lorca, he has remarked that the Government “rejects any use, any element that is coercion and lack of respect for people and institutions”
“We are in a process of transformation of society and the primary sector and investment elements such as PERTE, the Common Agrarian Policy, or the Food Chain Law are an element of the future or of tranquility, but that does not mean that within the sector there are real difficulties, linked to the rise in prices of animal feed or the episode of drought that we are experiencing, which reaffirms us in the will of sustainable irrigation and sustainability policies.
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