The Rome conference
Increase the economic weight and negotiating strength of agriculture within the supply chain; fairly redistribute added value among all actors, intervening against unfair commercial practices and for greater transparency in price formation; enhance alliance paths between farmers and consumers, on which much of the crisis falls between skyrocketing production costs and high inflation. These are the three pillars of the proposed law developed by Cia-Italian Farmers and announced at the organizational conference at Rome Eventi Fontana di Trevi, in the presence of the minister Francesco Lollobrigida.
An ad hoc law
“The text we have been working on for months - declared the national president of Cia, Cristiano Fini - is ready to land in Parliament and represents that crucial and urgent step to bring agriculture back to the centre. We want to safeguard the agricultural world with an ad hoc law. The sector deserves definitive recognition of its value in the agri-food chain through more stable prices and decent incomes." For an agriculture capable of overcoming the continuing emergency impasse, from Cia to Minister Lollobrigida not only the proposal of a law that would be strategic for the stability of the sector, but also the reference to key issues that are holding the sector back.
Wildlife management
First of all, and for too long, the management of wildlife: it is necessary to entrust the coordination, for the control of the wild boar population, to the Unit Command for forestry, environmental and agri-food protection of the Carabinieri; equip the PA's wildlife and hunting planning offices with specific professionalism; overcome the de minimis regime for compensation; strengthen farmers' self-defense, starting from streamlining bureaucratic practices, such as seeking the optimal density of the wolf species. The liquidity issue is also out of the league. Cia requests the immediate use of financial resources for credit support, starting from those of the Budget law; the creation of a National Fund for reducing interest on medium-long term loans; the strengthening of the Public Guarantee Fund and a community-wide moratorium for debts incurred by farmers.
“There is no more time to waste”
Cia's contribution to the review of the CAP, however, involves interventions that Europe should implement in the short term. Not only with the simplification of the procedures for approving any changes to the national strategic plans, allowing greater autonomy to the Member States, but also ensuring more flexibility on the application of the conditionality rules, without providing for sanctions in case of non-compliance. We need to update and facilitate eco-schemes, make CMOs less rigid to facilitate spending, raise the percentages of coupled aid to support farmers in the event of a crisis and update and strengthen the budget for risk management. “There is no more time to waste for agriculture - concluded Fini -. We must continue to work to give hope and a future to the sector."