Socialist deputy Miguel Freitas considered that the Algarve is jeopardized in the new Rural Development Program (PDR) 2020 and warns that the region could lose 75 million euros of funds available in the next Community Support Framework, compared to the allocation of 200 million that Proder had, between 2007 and 2013.
The PS parliamentarian, elected by the Algarve, considers that "the Government must compensate the region for the aforementioned loss through a fair and realistic redistribution of the 470 million euros without national contribution".
Miguel Freitas argues that it is «important to guarantee a positive inter-regional differentiation, since in this PDR the Algarve is considered as a “transition region” without, however, having the proper safeguards or compensation for the less favored areas of the interior and west coast (predominantly rural), clearly less developed than coastal urban regions'.
"If a businessman decides to go ahead with a large investment, for example, in a cheese factory in Alcoutim, he has 10 percent less support than if he does in Mértola, which is not understandable and the Government has room for maneuver to correct this injustice" , according to Miguel Freitas.
In keeping with this pattern, «the operationalization criteria of the PDR 2020 will greatly affect agricultural investment, strongly conditioning the installation of young farmers and other agricultural, forestry and agro-industry investments in the interior of the Algarve».
Following this position, taken in the Assembly of the Republic, Miguel Freitas questioned the Ministry of Agriculture and the Sea on the reason "why there are measures and/or operations of the PDR 2020 that do not differentiate between "zones with natural or other specific constraints"" .
This gap in the Program is "a political decision", he says, which will have "negative impacts for the Algarve region, as this classification is associated with increases and higher levels and rates of support".
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