BRUSSELS The Minister of Agriculture, José Manuel Fernandes, assured as we speak in Brussels that Portugal will ask for all potential assist for farmers affected by the latest fires, however first an evaluation of the harm have to be made.
“The whole lot that’s potential, we are going to ask for,” he stated, in statements to journalists on the sidelines of the European Union (EU) Agriculture Council of Ministers, which is happening as we speak in Brussels.
José Manuel Fernandes specified that earlier than advancing earlier than having “an evaluation [of the damage], which is underway”.
“The groups are all making an enormous effort to know this evaluation, which might even set off the European Union’s solidarity fund,” he added, stressing that the evaluation will likely be made “within the shortest potential time”.
The minister additionally stated that the EU Solidarity Fund is allotted ten weeks after the catastrophe happens, with Portugal throughout the deadline to request its mobilization, but it surely requires that the harm be greater than 3,000 million euros or 0.6% of the Gross Home Product (GDP).
Nonetheless, he defined: “We is not going to anticipate the funds to behave,” particularly as a result of the mobilization of the Solidarity Fund “is dependent upon the quantity of harm”.
Relating to the agricultural disaster reserve, the governor highlighted that it “has a monetary limitation” of 450 million euros per 12 months, recalling that Portugal has defended the rise of its monetary allocation”. (23/09/24)