Rome, 10 January (LaPresse) – ‘Long negotiations have been conducted and we can say that the agreement is no longer the same as it was a year ago, thanks to great teamwork with Prime Minister Meloni, Deputy Prime Minister Tajani and our diplomats’. This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Francesco Lollobrigida, in an interview with Corriere della Sera. "We have made requests to obtain rules that respond to a specific principle: products arriving in Europe cannot, for example, contain residues of substances that are prohibited for European farmers. The EU is working in this direction and we will be vigilant. The competitiveness of our businesses must be based on rules that are the same for everyone. That said, this is an agreement that we have always considered positive for an exporting nation such as Italy, while recognising that some sectors are at risk and we did not want to leave them behind in any way," he added. "We made it clear from the outset that we would not vote in favour without guarantees. We had a sort of golden share and we used it to obtain, in addition to the CAP, a £6.3 billion fund to support farmers. Added to this is the elimination of tariffs on fertilisers and, above all, within the Mercosur agreement, a lowering of the safeguard mechanism threshold from 10% to 5%. Another crucial point is the strengthening of the system of controls for goods arriving in the European Union," insists Lollobrigida.
© Copyright LaPresse
