The Agriculture and Fisheries Council meets in Luxembourg, with Margaritis Schinas making his first appearance in his new portfolio.
Schinas has served as European Commissioner and has now taken over the reins of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.
Schinas, addressing the Council, underlined that his first participation marks the start of a national restart for Greek agriculture, in direct connection with European priorities. At the same time, he focused on the future of CAP after 2027, on supporting farmers amidst geopolitical challenges and on the role of agriculture in fire prevention, assuring that Greece will have a strong and credible voice in Europe.
As Schinas said coming to the Council: “It is a responsibility and an honour to participate for the first time in the Council of Agriculture Ministers.
From the beginning of my mandate, I have spoken about a national reboot for Greek agriculture that will also lead to the overall restructuring of the primary sector in our country. And today the agenda of the Council of Agriculture Ministers is directly linked to our goal for a national reset.
We will first of all discuss the future of the Common Agricultural Policy for after 2027.
In this future we want strong support for farmers’ income and rural regeneration.
We will also discuss how to help farmingin difficult geopolitical circumstances. Fertilizers, feed and diesel are priorities in this discussion section and already the Greek government has taken important steps, but we need to do much more collectively as Europeans.
And finally, very importantly, we will also discuss the role of agriculture as a factor that can help us in the fire season that is about to start.
So we have a lot of work ahead of us at all levels.
And I want to assure you that Greece’s voice will be heard loudly in Brussels and in Luxembourg and in all the decision-making centres.”
In response to a question on the OPEKEPE case, the minister stressed that there is an agreed transition plan to the new Independent Public Revenue Authority, assuring that payments will not be interrupted. At the same time, he stressed that Greece is working intensively to ensure its credibility and strong presence in the shaping of the future CAP.
He said, “We have agreed on a comprehensive action plan that will mark the transition from the old payment agency to the new independent Treasury Revenue Authority. These commitments will be honoured and I am very confident that we will be able to make this transition without interrupting payments. We are working intensively to implement this process. I am well aware that, in order to be able to shape the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, Greece’s voice must be credible. And believe me, it will be.”
