(Finance) – “We must coordinate on the resources, this is the theme of the future EU budget: there are new priorities that were not there before, like the defense. And the organization must delay”. This is what the Vice -president of the European Commission, Raffaele Fittoduring the debate held today ad “Agriculture is”, The village-event dedicated to the Italian agricultural world, hosted in Rome in the redeveloped area of Piazza della Repubblica and the Gardens of Dogali. At the center of the debate the hypothesis that the PAC funds and those for cohesion fall on one management. During the discussion in EU Agriculture and Fishing Council On the future of the common agricultural policy, many countries have, in fact, called contracts to the proposal of the European Commission to want to integrate into a single “national case” the over 500 programs that are part of the current budget, from cohesion to funds for agriculture. For the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida “The merger of the PAC funds with other resources would be devastating. Agriculture must maintain specific funds” https://www.Finance.it/detaglionews/187_2025-03-24_TLB/. “This-he said Dense – It is one of the first questions to be examined that interest agriculture closely. In front we have an important future with different priorities. Among these is the defense of funds for agriculture “.
“The debate on the European budget is fundamental – he continued Dense – A third of the budget is on cohesion policies and a third is on agricultural policies. Defending this in the traditional way could be a mistake, but affecting the quality of the expense could be a winning weapon, avoiding running the risk that in a single fund the specificity of these resources that must be safeguarded “. Fitto explained that” to create synergies between the different programs, which must be talked “must be safe and stressed that in this sense, among the European priorities there is also the plan on the water, which” by imagining a path “, Cohesion policies “. The commissioner has also guaranteed that” answers will be given that take into account the needs of each Member State “and that” common choices discussed in time and not imposed from above will be made without a preventive confrontation “.
“There is all the will to work together for this fundamental sector for Italy and Europe” added the vice president of the European Commission. Fitto cited the Revision work done on the PNRR “Also with the category representatives, thanks to which we have obtained 3 billion of additional resources for the agricultural department” and stressed that its role of coordination between different EU commissioners wants to be “a clear message of an overview and dialogue” which has already led to the document on the new European vision for agriculture which represents “a clear change of Approach “https://www.Finance.it/detaglionews/187_2025-03-24_TLB/.” The central element-he continued-is that the farmer is not a problem, but it is part of the solution “. Among the EU priority, He then explained dense, there are the internal and rural areas, whose abandonment must be contrasted “and for which structured policies are needed that put together interventions in different areas, such as material and immaterial infrastructures and the creation of services that encourage the return and stay in those areas”.
It is necessary – he said Dense – “review the current cohesion policy already with the current programming not only with the future one”. According to those in full, the nodes to be dissolved are “in addition to the very low expenditure capacity also the fact that the programs do not have the necessary flexibility. They have been scheduled 3-5 years ago and the conditions must be created to adapt the programs to the current needs”. A job, he concluded, that “he will be able to find the first answers from the next few weeks”.
“We appreciated the declarations of Raffaele Fitto with respect to the defense of the PAC funds. We cannot run the risk of a single fund, it is necessary to guarantee the individual economic dimension of each sector. Also also the attention dedicated to the internal areas and the theme of water resources. We must take advantage of the revision of the cohesion policy and use the funds also to respond to the needs of water management, both in terms of infrastructure and supply” President of Cia-Agricoltori, Cristiano Fini. For Cia, therefore, the NO of Fitto is important to the unique national background hypothesis for the financing of the CAP, which would mark the stop to a sector economic policy. Regarding the internal areas, CIA appreciated the will of the vice -president who were dense to contrast their abandonment and depopulation with dedicated resources and measures, through the synergy between cohesion funds and community agricultural policies, in order to create services to increase the quality of life in those areas.
“Any hypothesis of bringing PAC’s resources into a single container would represent a mortal blow to the future of European agriculture” say Coldiretti and Italian supply chain . “It is vital for the future of Europe that the choices on the subject of a common balance safeguard the agricultural exceptionalism, keeping the funds of the CAP separate outside of any ambiguity – he says Coldiretti -, since only in this way will it be possible to defend the food sovereignty of the continent in a moment of great tensions and uncertainties globally. The right way would, however, be to find adequate synergies between agricultural and structural policy funds to fill the very serious infrastructure and water deficit that weighs on food production “.