Lisbon, Sept. 25, 2026 (Lusa) - The Confederation of Portuguese Farmers (CAP) has accused the government of «abandoning those who helped it» and said that trust between the sector and the government had been broken due to the lack of responses to the crisis they are facing.
In an editorial in the latest issue of the CAP's magazine, the confederation's leader, Luís Mira, accused the Government of forgetting and abandoning «those who helped it», pointing out that Luís Montenegro's government came to power «with the explicit support» of the sector.
«[…] Trust in this Government has been broken,» he warned.
The CAP's leader said that the wildfires in Germany, France, Ireland, Hungary, Belgium and some Northern European countries had forced Brussels to put forward a proposal to create a European integrated management mechanism for preventing and combating forest fires.
This initiative, he pointed out, requires member states to set up a national structure to make use of the expertise that will be made available by the European Union.
For Luís Mira, Portugal cannot continue without a response team for fires and other disasters.
Added to this is the crisis caused by fuel prices, which began in March.
In September, the Government announced a subsidy of 10 cents, backdated to the end of June.
«Whilst Portugal shows its lack of interest, Spain has been supporting its farmers with packages of measures since March, which were reinforced in the April–June quarter and again in August–September,» he emphasised.
Furthermore, the CAP pointed out that the Spanish government allocated an additional €650 million for fertilisers, compared with the €20 million granted by Portugal.
«If we were to compare this with the last Socialist government – which the CAP criticised so heavily – that government allocated €180 million,» he lamented.
He also criticised the fact that Portugal is not utilising the funds made available by the European Union under two schemes, in which part of the funding is entirely from the EU, but which allow each member state to top up the amount allocated by the European Union by up to 200% of the allocated figure.
«For the first time in almost four decades of the CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] in the country, Portugal will not be contributing the national share up to the limit set by the regulation, thereby putting us at yet another disadvantage compared to all European farmers,» he pointed out.
The CAP has convened its council of presidents for an extraordinary meeting at its headquarters next Monday, in light of the lack of «robust support» to help the sector cope with rising input costs.
This highest advisory body brings together the presidents of the associations representing the agricultural, forestry and livestock sectors.
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