During the meeting held with the European Commissioner for Agriculture, the President of the Government claimed additional support to the Azores under the POSEI in order to aid regional dairy farmers facing the situation of the sector.
 
"What must be established is a matter of principle, that is, the Azores need additional support to meet the dairy sector crisis," said Vasco Cordeiro after the meeting with Phil Hogan in Santarém.
 
According to the President of the Government, the meeting addressed topics that are "good suggestions for action," namely the possibility of Azorean industries taking part in business missions within the European Union.
 
"There is work to be done and we will continue to insist on a few measures that are fundamental, with special emphasis on the allocation of additional support under POSEI; the latter is a major tool to help farmers dealing with the specificities of the Azores," said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
The President of the Government spoke to journalists at the National Agriculture Fair, where accompanied the Commissioner and the Minister of Agriculture, Capoulas Santos, on a visit to the pavilion of São Miguel Agricultural Association. At the occasion, he added that he took the opportunity to invite once again Phil Hogan to visit the Azores so that he may become better acquainted with the reality and the specifics of the Region, which are the result of its remote location and insularity.
 
There is a difference of diagnostic between the Regional Government and the European Commission regarding the causes of the situation in the dairy industry, the President of the Government said, restating that the problem does not lie in production, but in the marketing and export component of dairy products.
 
"That is where the great effort of the European Commission we should be focused on," Vasco Cordeiro warned, considering the existence of weaknesses in the Commission's ability to control an increase in production. It has failed to recognise that the abolition of the milk quota system is largely responsible for this situation, which was substantially aggravated with the Russian ban and the decrease in consumption of dairy products in emerging markets.
 
Given the current situation, the Government of the Azores approved in late 2015 a package of specific measures to support the dairy sector amounting to five million Euros. The funds allocated under this measure are higher than the total of amount of aid that the European Commission granted to the entire country.
 
Recently, the Government has also implemented a restructuring programme for the Dairy Sector, which includes financial compensation to regional milk producers who wish to definitively abandon production.
 
The Government also created a line of credit designated as SAFIAGRI III, under which farmers may benefit from public participation of interest on the loans for agriculture. Moreover, it established AGROCRÉDITO, a line of credit in the amount of about 30 million Euros designed to reinforce the working capital of farms through the subsidisation of interest rates.