Planas asks the EU to defend before the WTO to maintain subsidies for fishing gas oil

BRUSSELS, 24 May. (EUROPE PRESS) -

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, will propose this Tuesday to the EU Ministers of Agriculture a common position to defend before the World Trade Organization that fiscal subsidies for fishing oil be maintained at the meeting next June.

"I will take advantage of my speech to reiterate Spain's opposition to the elimination of subsidies for fishing oil being included in the conclusions of this conference," said the Minister of Agriculture upon entering the Council of Agriculture Ministers of the EU.

Planas has highlighted that he will raise the Spanish position against eliminating tax exemptions for fishing diesel at the meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Twenty-seven this Tuesday, within the framework of the debate on agrarian issues ahead of the WTO ministerial conference, which will have will take place between June 12 and 15 in Geneva, and is expected to include this measure in its conclusions.

The head of Agriculture called the elimination of subsidies for fishing gas oil "in the current context" a "nonsense". Although he has recognized that "less use of fossil fuels is desirable in the future", he has also stressed that at the present time, and "from the point of view of fishery production it does not make any sense".

Thus, Planas proposes a coordinated position between Member States in the face of the WTO's intention to eliminate tax exemptions for diesel used by fishing entities, which represents up to 40% of the production costs of the fleet.