The President of the Government assured today that the Government of the Azores is committed to put the Regional Rural Development Programme for the Azores (PRORURAL+) into operation in order to allow producers and their associations to apply for public support as soon as possible.

"There was an effort that has led to a good negotiation of PRORURAL+, but today we are fundamentally driven by the need to implement this tool for the benefit of producers and their representative organisations." Vasco Cordeiro spoke at the opening of the new Cooperativa União Agrícola feed mill in Santana, municipality of Ribeira Grande.

Under this programme, which allocates a total of 340 million Euros by 2020, the President of the Government announced that Monitoring Committee has already been established as well as the Managing Authority. Currently, there are several documents under analysis and discussion; they will define the selection criteria for the approval of projects submitted to the new Community Support Framework.

"In the next 15 days, we will be able to open applications for local action groups, agri-environmental measures and compensatory payments. We will continue to work on the other components" in order to render them operational as quickly as possible, especially the mechanisms concerning the applications for the modernisation of farms and the remaining measures provided in PRORURAL+, said the President of the Government.

In his speech, Vasco Cordeiro stressed the challenge arising from the end of milk quotas, restating that the Government of the Azores does not agree with the decision taken by Brussels. Hence, it will continue to express its disagreement with Community institutions and call for the need to safeguard the "profoundly destabilizing factors that this decision might have on producers' income."

"However, we cannot be solely dependent on the decision that other will take. We must work to ensure that we are the best prepared as possible to meet this challenge," the President of the Government defended, stressing the importance of reinforcing the ability to reach consensus all parties involved.

"The three components of the agricultural sector - production, industry and marketing - must necessarily come to terms. We cannot just look after the interests of one of these parts without evaluating the potential impact of the remaining two," said Vasco Cordeiro. The President emphasised the Government's commitment to promote the Milk Forum, scheduled for March 9, as a space for reflection and debate on this matter and, above all, a moment to define the path that can help us overcoming this challenge.

Furthermore, Vasco Cordeiro also noted that the issues concerning quality and the need to implement good practices in product differentiation cannot be overlooked and neglected under any circumstances.

 "The Regional Government does not exclude the possibility to undertake this much needed effort," Vasco Cordeiro assured, pointing out the example of investments to supply farms with water, power and better access roads, which represents an investment of about 30 million Euros throughout the current legislative period.

Vasco Cordeiro also pointed out the historical results achieved in the area of animal health in the Azores, particularly in the fight against brucellosis and the improvement of the conditions to boost the competitiveness of regional production under the "Azores Brand."

In his speech, the President of the Government also recalled that, in less than three months, the municipality of Ribeira Grande saw the opening of investments over 25 million Euros, such as the new Fisheries Port in Rabo de Peixe, an investment of about 16 million Euros, and the new feed mill that represented a public investment of 6.4 million Euros.