Farmers will get their tractors from Pamplona after receiving the commitments from the Navarra government

This Thursday the farmers will collect the thousand tractors which subsequently collapsed the city center, in a meeting which had been held with the Navarre government for more than three hours various obligationsincluding a series tax benefits for the sector.

This commitment consists of a favorable tax reform for the Navarrese agricultural sector, which would be applied in 2025, but retroactive to January 1, 2024. There are also commitments that refer to the Food Chain Law, the CAP, the ‘green harvest’ of, among others, vineyard or the law of steppe birds.

The meeting took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Rural Development and Environment of the government of Navarre, where the farmers placed their tractors, leading to the municipal police blocking the street.

In front of the department’s headquarters, hundreds of farmers wearing yellow vests waited expectantly for the outcome of a meeting attended by the government of Navarre, the Minister of Rural Development and the Environment, José Mari Aierdi, and the Minister of Economy and Finance, José Luis Arasti; and on the part of the farmers, the agricultural organizations UAGN, UCAN, EHNE and Alinar, and a representation of the farmers who have taken action since February 6.

At the end of the meeting, Salvador Moreno, spokesman for the group of mobilized farmers, riding on a tractor, explained to his colleagues the outcome of the meeting, in which the Navarre government is “in any case ready” to negotiate. has acknowledged that in three hours “we cannot solve what has been deteriorating for 20 or 30 years, but I think it is a first step.”

He emphasized that “from now on they will work on a budget improvement that will be effective, which is difficult to express in figures, but which will ensure that we are not discriminated against compared to other provinces” and also “they verbally commit to developing the Hydrological Plan and we include water, irrigation and the second phase of the Navarre Canal.

In the same way, he explained, the ‘green harvest’ of 1,100 hectares of vineyards will be authorized (600 from the Rioja DO and 500 from the Navarra DO) and the steppe bird project “guarantees us that it is in the box and that it is already it’s gone.”

Other points were also discussed during the meeting, though They are not the responsibility of the government of Navarreworries the sector.

At the community level, he said, “they have the will to defend what the future would be simplification of the CAP [política agraria común de la UE] “and at the national level, the implementation of the Food Chain Act.

They also explained that there are farmers who charge the fees VAT at 0% as a result of the crisis measures and they pay a VAT of 10%, 20%, which means that at the end of the year “positive amounts accumulate towards them”. According to the farmers, the Navarre government has pledged “to investigate whether anything can be done to speed up their return.”

Farmers have also raised the issue ‘digital notebook’. “We also fought to ensure that the communications farmers make with us are physical and written and that the georeferenced photos are voluntary.” “We know that we are moving towards digitalization, but we also know that there are many people who are not trained for that.” According to Moreno, the council members have committed to studying it, and although it is not Navarre’s responsibility, “they are sensitive and there could be a tendency for everyone to choose the way he wants to do it, which is also a good idea would be.” .

Reactions after the meeting

The Minister of Rural Development and the Environment, José Maria Aierdi, told the media that “it was an intense meeting” and emphasized that this is “a sector that worries us and concerns us” within the government of Navarre. With regard to the Food Chain Act, he indicated that they share the need to “make a greater effort to control the entire chain, and not only prices, but also where the added value is produced.”

For his part, the Minister of Economy and Finance, José Luis Arastinoted that the solution to the problems of the agricultural sector “does not depend only on Navarre, there are problems at both national and European level.”

Felix Bariainchairman of the UAGN, believes that the assessment of the meeting “is obviously not positive, because nothing more than a commitment was made to study tax matters.” The union leader has demanded that general environmental rules affecting agriculture and livestock “do not cost farmers and ranchers money” and has demanded “more exhaustive scrutiny” of the Food Chain Act.

Likewise, it has also demanded greater controls on agricultural imports so that products from third countries that do not meet the same conditions cannot compete.

The chairman of EHNE, Fermin Gorraizhas asked for “explicit support, more support for family farms,” which in many cases eventually become businesses. Moreover, with regard to the CAP, he has demanded “that the marketing of exploitation rights disappears”.