Budget Law 2021: over 1 billion euros to agriculture. Teresa Bellanova said, “strategic sector”

The 2021 Budget Law finally approved last night, after the Senate’s okay, at least on paper, has allotted more than 1 billion euros to the agricultural sector. The Minister of Agriculture, Teresa Bellanova announced and explained the measure, in an official statement. In short, the resources will be used to “strengthen agricultural, fishing and aquaculture supply chains by creating a specific Fund. It will give a renewed impetus to businesses managed by agricultural entrepreneurs, and to young people’s start-ups to encourage new generations to integrate into agriculture and encourage the growth and development of businesses run by women”. Furthermore, the exemption of the IRPEF tax (personal income tax) has been confirmed for direct farmers and professional agricultural entrepreneurs, also for 2021, as well as refinancing the Solidarity Fund for insurance operations, refinancing the three-year program of fisheries and aquaculture, and extending the green bonus for greener cities. One of the many measures is 10 million euros expected to support the storing of DOC, DOCG and TGI wines and reducing VAT (added value tax) to 10% for take-away dishes in catering.
Moreover, a press release reads that implementing the Food Emergency Fund has been planned with an investment of an additional 40 million euros for 2021, confirming the system action already implemented and systematized in the Heal Italy and the Re-launch Decree, including response to social and food frailties; right to food, and quality food, for everyone and specifically to the quality of infant and child nutrition; fight against food waste; support for the agro-food chain through purchasing quality Italian products, and for the income protection of workers in the sector as well as also strengthening the Administration.
“The budget law has confirmed the centrality of agriculture and the food chain in the political agenda, and above all, its correlation to the national interest. It will avoid increases in the tax burden for agricultural businesses, also in 2021, and strengthen the policies for competitive growth of the sector, which are necessary to respond to the setbacks of the crisis caused by Covid19 as well as those for social fragility. It will guarantee the conditions to strengthen the administration of the Ministry, and simultaneously AGEA, agency for agricultural supplies, and CREA, research and analyses of agricultural economics, personnel. It will stand as an actual bridge towards the implementation of the more comprehensive MIPAAF Strategy (Ministry of agricultural, food and forestry policies) within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and towards the construction of the new CAP post 2020”.
“Resilience and re-launching are the watchwords that have guided us to continue with the bill implemented this year, thanks as well to the constant dialogue with all the social partners”, said Minister Teresa Bellanova. The 2021 budget will confirm the plan that characterized the last Budget Law, and we will strengthen what has already been working this year, in light of the strategic role that the agriculture and agro-food sectors have confirmed over the last few months. These sectors are indisputably central to the valued and significant contribution of parliamentary work. Our task will be to adequately support it in the coming months on the domestic market, and especially on global markets. This is the reason why I consider these measures and these resources as a sort of ambitious and virtuous bridge towards implementing our Strategy in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and towards the new CAP. In the coming weeks, we shall convene the table aimed at building the National strategic plan”.