Pedro Sanchez and his tailored suits for agriculture. Elisa Plumed
Since the elections last December 20th, Spain will not stop dancing song Ricky Martin: “One, two, three, one small step pa’lante, Mary; one, two, three, one pa’tras small step. ” After more than three months post-election without an agreement to form a government, political uninflated noticeable and many citizens are sick and tired of “that point of view” that all mented but at the same time, all ignored.
At the institutional level the agricultural sector, we continue with Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment that is functioning and, therefore, has lost steam. The image of a strong and omnipresent Isabel García Tejerina stood at the dawn of the elections.
As an institutional innovation we have a new Committee on Agriculture, Food and Environment in the Congress of Deputies in which possibly the oldest is the actor Toni Cantó (this legislature repeated by Citizens, while the past was by UpyD ). The other members of the Commission are new, and prior knowledge of the primary sector just three: the popular Joaquin Maria Garcia Diez; Socialist Manuel Gonzalez Ramos, and Ramón Luis Molinary Citizens. It is true that in the commission there are other more environmental profiles (for something is the Committee on the Environment) as the veteran in the PP Maria Teresa Lara or rookie Antonio Gómez-Reino Podemos.
What role has the agricultural sector in the bickering of these policies “negotiations”? For at least the general secretary of the PSOE and candidate to form a government, Pedro Sanchez, he made a “huequillo” on its agenda, and last February 16 met with representatives accompanied agrifood sector [curiously] by former deputy Alejandro Alonso (who was spokesman in the Committee on Agriculture of Congress during the last two legislatures). In that event Sánchez was able to talk with the leaders of ASAJA, COAG, UPA and Agrifood Cooperatives, but also with FIAB, ACES, ASEDAS, ANGED and those responsible for the two networks for rural development, RADAR, and ENRD.
Apparently, that meeting did not comment Sánchez what FIAB two weeks later detected in the documents “Offering the PSOE to other progressive political formations and left.” In them, the first part of the document was common for Podemos, IU-UP, in Comú Podem, in Marea and Compromís, however, in relation to agriculture was different for the last two parliamentary groups.
The document referred to in Marea measures related to the dairy sector as “performance guarantees include the dairy agreement through a proposed penalty system; define a “sustainable” price for each link in the value chain; provide transparency to that value chain publishing prices buying and distribution industry; publish a new standard contract to establish scales in terms of equal quality for all industries, or create the required figure of “mediator” that serves to resolve disputes when livestock and industry do not reach an agreement in the negotiations. ”
Meanwhile, in Compromís document it highlighted the proposal to give greater “role of the Valencian agriculture in the negotiations of the CAP, support for production, processing and marketing industrialization of farming, beekeeping and livestock products. Participation of Valencians representatives in European negotiations on the CAP under the system of participation of the autonomous communities in the Spanish delegation in the Council of Ministers corresponding European “.
In short, the PSOE has proposed to the agri-food sector as a bargaining tool, offering a suit specific measure for the agricultural sectors of Galicia and Valencia, where none of both measures appear in your program or the initial agreement with Citizens.
The question is, to reach an agreement with leftist groups PSOE does not arise that the proposed measures could make him Marea in direct conflict with the competition authorities? And, moreover, do you really think they could give more weight to the Valencian agriculture, for example, to Andalusia, barn, not only of Spanish agricultural production if not the deputies that sustain Pedro Sanchez in Congress ?
Those who defend and look for the Spanish food industry do not like being the last of the political row when food producers are spoon-fed five times a day to society.
However, almost it is more depressing to know that agriculture is used as currency and lightly, showing that the rules established by Competition unknown and how issues of agriculture are negotiated in Brussels.
Elisa Plumed, food journalist and blogger criba.net
