Given the lack of authorization to hold protests in favour of the sweet fruit sector in Madrid, the Union of Unions of Growers and Livestock Farmers has decided to move them to Lleida, one of the provinces with the largest production of peaches and nectarines.
The Union of Unions, together with its territorial organizations, has asked the Minister of Agriculture, Isabel García Tejerina, to request state aid to stonefruit producers from the European Commission (EC) to compensate them for the extraordinary losses caused by the serious price crisis in the sector.
With the aim of requesting the implementation of urgent measures for the sector, the organization has scheduled protests on Wednesday 6 September at 11 am in front of the Government Subdelegation.
The institution has called for this state aid to include direct aid per number of hectares declared in the CAP for professional producers or for priority agricultural holdings, as well as the subsidization or reduction of the social security contributions of self-employed people working in fruit and vegetable farms. It also calls on the Minister to ask the EC for the reallocation of unused fruit withdrawal quotas from one country to another, so that the maximum quotas can be raised.
The Union of Unions is also asking the Ministry to grant extraordinary grace periods, of at least one year, for the amortization of the debt contracted with public financial entities of the State Administration, as well as the recovery of the level of ENESA assistance for insurances and a reduction of the net yield index of non-citrus fruits in income statements.