Sánchez proposes allocating as much as 17,000 public rural properties to younger producers to advertise generational change within the countryside | Economy | EUROtoday

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, introduced this Wednesday a set of support to advertise generational change within the countryside, which he described as “urgent”. The Executive “is going to mobilize agricultural lands that are property of the General Administration of the State” for this function, in accordance with Sánchez. Specifically, the suitability of 17,000 rural properties which are within the palms of the central authorities might be evaluated “to make them available to young people.” The chief of the Executive has additionally said that “in the coming months” a royal decree regulation might be accredited to launch Tierra Joven“a platform for innovation and mobilization of agricultural land” that “will allow the supply and demand of these lands to be disseminated.” Although its implementation still has to be negotiated with the autonomous communities and the private sector.

Sánchez has presented the new measures together with the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, at the iHub La Vega Innova, in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid), a space created by Agriculture to promote innovation in the sector. As an example of the importance of promoting generational change in the countryside, the President of the Government has indicated that 40% of the owners of agricultural holdings are over 65 years old, while only 9% are under 40 years old. To facilitate access to land for younger people, the European Commission proposes the creation of installation aid and investment subsidies or the creation of a European land observatory to improve “transparency on agricultural land.”

Sánchez has also pointed out that this land mobilization is a measure similar to what has been done in housing policy, “the place all ministries have been informed to have a look at land to make them accessible for a standard trigger.” Planas, for his part, has agreed with the analysis carried out by the President of the Government since, in his words, “the generational change is no doubt the nice problem of the agri-food sector of Spain and likewise of the European Union.” Along these same lines, the Minister of Agriculture has defended that “young people, farmers and ranchers have farms that are sustainable and profitable” to fight against another of the threats in the countryside, climate change.

To reinforce the performance of the Tierra Joven platform, The Government will consolidate it in the future Family Agriculture Law through the creation of an Information and Transfer Office of agricultural land. This measure is similar to what EU countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Belgium or Poland have applied.

More CAP resources

The President of the Government has also been harsh with the work of the European Union in this matter, since many governments “are weakening” the European budget. Thus, he highlighted that the Government defends that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2028-2034 allocates 10% of its resources to the generational replacement of the countryside, compared to the 6% proposed by the European Commission. “We are very alone in the European Council for these community budgets to be larger,” he stated.

Sánchez has reiterated that the CAP “is and should proceed to be among the best legacies of the European challenge and is, above all, an funding in safety and sovereignty.” Thus, he highlighted that since “there are governments that defend 5% for different issues”, in reference to defense spending, it is also possible to “defend 2% of the neighborhood finances” for this transition.

To achieve this increase, the leader of the PSOE has highlighted that the Government “is defending that the neighborhood finances be 2% of the gross nationwide disposable revenue”, which will allow the EU to face the challenges that “are more and more larger and extra urgent.” To launch this debate, the Minister of Agriculture has convened the Agrarian Council, wherein the 4 principal agricultural organizations take part for subsequent Monday, and has summoned the agri-food cooperatives for January 21.