Portugal's Agriculture Minister José Manuel Fernández said on Sunday that Portugal's previous government had “wasted an opportunity” to use all the funds available to the country under its recovery plan, adding that it had “wasted the opportunity” to use all the funds available to the country under the recovery plan, and said it had “squandered the opportunity” to use all the funds available to the country under the recovery plan, and said it had “squandered the opportunity” to use all the funds available to the country under the recovery plan, and said it had “wasted the opportunity” to use all the funds available to the country under the recovery plan, and said it had “wasted the opportunity” to use all the funds available to the country under the recovery plan, adding to what he called a “green package” for farmers. warned against radicalism.
Mr. Fernández was speaking at the 13th European University, a political training event that brought together around 70 young people, held in Curia (Aveiro), on Sunday with Prime Minister and PSD leader Luis Montenegro and the European Parliament Electoral List AD. The event ended with a speech by Sebastian. Bugalyo.
“Portugal has around 22.2 billion euros at its disposal under the Reconstruction and Resilience Plan (PRR), which could have been 30.5 billion euros if it had used all the loans. So we are left here dissatisfied,” the former MEP and former EPP coordinator on the Budget Committee said in a speech entitled “Who pays for the EU?” Ta.
“Spain wants all its resources and is using them for its goal of efficient water storage,” he said, adding, “Portugal has missed the opportunity to utilize this €8.3 billion and has no There is no going back,” he added.
Fernandes acknowledged that these loans represented an increase in debt, but the repayment terms were 30 years and the interest rates were “very low.”
“Why have we wasted these resources? Why is Portugal's implementation rate in 2030 close to zero? Because the previous government did not know how to plan, and local governments and CCDR ”, he lamented, considering that these funds could have been used for both water management and corporate capitalization.
On agriculture, the minister reiterated his criticism of the previous government, saying it left behind a “very heavy legacy” that would cost the country 1.05 billion euros by 2025.
“We cannot afford to lose a single penny (…) The previous Socialist government, due to its incompetence and sloppiness, did not move quickly to disburse all these funds, which are extremely important for Portugal,” he pointed out. . The country is the most dependent on public investment funds among the member states.
“They must be used to create value and generate wealth. They cannot be used to replace the national budget,” he added.
In his speech, the minister defended farmers, saying “the constant attacks on them are unacceptable” and that they are “the best defenders of the environment”.
“Why did farmers revolt? Because they have been ignored, asked to meet environmental demands, or denied resources due to green radicalism that prevents them from achieving climate goals. “They are often portrayed as villains and enemies of the environment,” he said.
To achieve these goals, he added, “in addition to telling people the truth,” we need to be progressive rather than radical.
(Sara Madeira, Edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt)