The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has advocated on Monday for reforming European legislation on the transport of live animals, a position also defended by countries such as Portugal, and which clashes with the demand for a total ban proposed by a bloc of six countries in northern and central Europe.
Planas made these statements upon his arrival in Brussels to meet with his peers from the European Union (EU) and exchange, at the request of the Portuguese delegation, points of view on the revision of this legislation, which will be included in the animal welfare package soon to be presented by the European Commission.
«It is a question of improving conditions taking into account the characteristics of Spain and other peripheral countries of the EU, with longer transport time or high temperatures», said the minister in reference to the situation of the Iberian Peninsula, among other territories, while summarizing his position on the matter with «reform, yes; prohibition, no».
The EU-27 expect Brussels to formulate its proposals on the matter soon, but although its approach is still unknown, Planas has advanced that he trusts that the positions of Spain and Portugal will be taken into account and that he does not believe that the Commission will consider the «extreme» of prohibiting this practice.
The ministers will also address the content of the directive on industrial emissions, which their counterparts in the Environment are debating, to know the effect and scope it may have on the agricultural sector, which is why Planas has indicated that he will ask to work together at a technical level with the aim that the agricultural points of view are reflected in a more significant way.
The Brussels text in relation to emissions proposes a limit of 150 livestock units, a ceiling that Planas considers «excessively low», although the main claim made by Spain, along with other Member States, is that the directive differentiates between production methods because, as the minister stressed, extensive livestock farming has «tremendously positive environmental effects that must be taken into account».
In addition, the meeting on Monday will discuss the current situation of the agricultural market, in which the minister detects a sustained trend towards stabilization, although he warned of the need to remain alert to its volatility: «Any event, both climatic and in relation to the war in Ukraine, can seriously affect production. There is no immediate risk but there are important tensions».
On the other hand, Planas has advanced that it will support an initiative of the Slovenian delegation for a possible revision of the Council Directive on honey, an issue that Spain already tried to regulate in the way that Slovenia raises and that considers that it goes in the «right direction».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)