The five priorities of Sicilian agriculture from Taormina to Brussels. On the initiative of MEP Marco Falcone, promoter of the Study Days of the EPP Group ongoing until Thursday in Sicily, the representatives of the main organizations in the sector met with the European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen, focusing on the emergencies of the sector and the needs of the sector. Present was the former MEP Giovanni La Via, former president of the Environment Commission in the EU Parliament, together with Graziano Scardino, president of CIA Sicilia; Francesco Ferreri, president of Coldiretti Sicilia; Rosario Marchese Ragona, president of Confagricoltura Sicilia; and Natale Mascellino, president of Copagri Sicilia. Falcone and the representatives of Sicilian agriculture delivered a document divided into five points: the first, an agricultural budget with solid and predictable resources, capable of offering businesses certainty for investments and planning. Second point, the protection of agricultural incomes: “The new CAP will have to enhance the productive specificities of the South, from fruit and vegetable crops to olive growing and viticulture, without neglecting small family businesses, essential in the fabric of rural areas”.
Third, investments in water infrastructure, irrigation efficiency, water reuse and soil protection. Fourth priority, the role of the Regions in the future governance of the CAP. “The integration of agricultural tools in the new national and regional partnership plans will have to ensure real participation of the territories, avoiding the risk of fragmentation of policies and disparities among European farmers”. Finally, competitiveness, administrative simplification and generational change for businesses, producer organizations and cooperatives: “European agricultural businesses must be able to compete on equal terms on international markets. It is necessary to guarantee fair conditions of competition also with respect to imported products, with consistent standards and rules that do not penalize European producers”.
“We are not asking for preferential treatment – Falcone and Giovanni La Via underlined – but for a truly shared and effective agricultural policy, capable of recognizing territorial differences and accompanying companies in the ongoing transformations. The environmental transition must be supported by investments and concrete tools, while farmers in Europe and the South must be able to compete on the market without suffering disadvantages compared to non-EU competition”.