The Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency for External relations defended in Porto that, in the context of rural economy, European regions should have the necessary should have the conditions so that they can develop activities in areas with potential; otherwise their modernisation and development may be in jeopardy.

"In order to talk about modernisation, innovation in the rural economy as well as in complementary activities to support the tourism sector, small and medium-sized companies, handicrafts and culture in rural areas, we must have a rural economy," said Rodrigo Oliveira.  The government official spoke during the meeting of the Commission for Natural Resources (NAT) of the Committee of Regions in the context of the report on "Innovation and Modernisation of Rural Economy."

According to Rodrigo Oliveira, "we must allow regions to develop their activities in the areas where they have potentialities," stressing the need for special attention to the "regions that have few alternatives to their traditional products, such as the cases of mountain areas of regions or outermost regions like the Azores; the latter have few alternatives to milk production."

"When the European Union calls into question, either through the liberalisation of quotas and political agreements or through any other political decision, the main activity of a region should provide an additional contribution" to this economic sector, defended the Regional Secretary.

In this regard, the government official stressed that European institutions "cannot fail to protect these producers. If not, we cannot talk about everything else. We cannot talk about innovation modernization or diversification."

In his speech, Rodrigo Oliveira also highlighted the presentation of a young Azorean entrepreneur at the seminar held Thursday. During the presentation, João Monteiro (company Easy Fruits & Salads) conveyed the enthusiasm and gave the example "of excellence and commitment with which young Azorean entrepreneurs acknowledge the importance of the agricultural sector and embrace this activity."

In the context of this meeting, Rodrigo Oliveira also took part in another meeting with several national associations linked to the milk sector, promoted by the President of the NAT Commission and the Mayor of Baião City Hall, José Luis Carneiro. The event was also attended by the rapporteur of the Committee of Regions, René Souchon.

During the meeting with representatives of the National Federation of Milk and Dairy Cooperatives (FENELAC), Association of Portuguese Milk Producers (APROLEP) and the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA), among other associations representing the sector, the contribution of the Azorean Government was recalled in the report on "The future of the dairy sector." The latter includes the claim of the Committee of Regions towards "additional support to the POSEI programme in order to provide a financial compensation to dairy farmers for the impact of the deregulation of markets and ensure the maintenance of competitiveness for producers in the remaining European areas."

 With regard to the development of rural areas, Rodrigo Oliveira restated that "if we want to talk about everything that is complementary in terms of innovation and modernisation of rural economy, we cannot fail to support and protect these traditional activities." The government official emphasised that "a region that produces milk and has no alternatives to these traditional products has to be defended" by the European Union.