The coordination of the nine Mediterranean member states of the European Union (MED9) before the Agriculture and Fisheries Councils was discussed on Monday night by the relevant Ministers at a working dinner hosted by the Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panagiotou, in the context of the Cypriot presidency of the group of states.< /b>
According to a related announcement, the working dinner was held on the occasion of Tuesday's Agriculture and Fisheries Council, with the aim of recording ways to promote common positions that will strengthen the requests of the European states of the Mediterranean in the questions of agriculture.
EU Member States participating in the MED9 scheme are Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Cyprus .
In the context of the dinner, Mrs. Panagiotou emphasized the importance of the cooperation and coordination of the Mediterranean countries before the Councils, especially in this critical period for the agriculture.
One of the common positions that MED9 will promote is the need to provide increased flexibility to farmers and national authorities, with the aim of reducing the administrative burden and improving the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy.
MED9 will also support the European Commission's plan to create an observatory of production costs, profit margins and commercial practices for the benefit of farmers, while in addition they will take joint action to strengthen the position of farmers in the agri-food chain.< /p>
Among other things, they agreed to call for additional measures and funding possibilities to address challenges in agriculture, as well as to strengthen actions on water management, resilience and efficient use of water in agriculture.< /p>
They also expressed satisfaction with the Commission's proposal to amend the CAP Regulations with a deadline for completing the reforms this April.
Source: KYPE
