Updating POSEI aid attracts unanimous support from all parties

The plenary session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands has unanimously demanded an update of the aid from POSEI (the European aid program for agricultural production due to insularity and remoteness), since it has remained almost constant in the last two decades, despite the advance of inflation, especially in recent years.

"That implies a cut in agricultural profits because the increase in costs has not always been passed on to final prices," said PSOE deputy Manuel Fumero, promoter of the initiative, in the plenary session.

The deputy recalled that the European Commission proposed a cut of 3.9% for the period 2021 to 2027, but it was finally possible to keep it unchanged at around 268 million euros.

Now, and for the next budgetary period, an essential update is needed, Fumero argued, which also has to take place exceptionally before the end of the current period in the face of rising costs.

The parliamentary agreement urges to defend before the Government of Spain and the European Commission the update of the POSEI program, exceptionally, before the end of the financial period 2021-2027, with the aim of updating it to the current production costs in the Canary Islands.

It is also proposed to the Canarian Government to carry out an update study of agricultural production costs in the Canary Islands, as a basis for negotiation in the face of possible POSEI updates.

Although it was not included in the text of the proposal, some spokespersons also demanded that the Government of Spain fulfill its commitment to pay 100% of the additional POSEI.