Italy writes to Brussels: “extend the deadlines for CMO and Psr”

The Coronavirus emergency has brought with it many consequences for the Italian wine and food industry. Movements or cancellations of trade fairs and promotional events, programs that skip, projects that delay and so on. All these initiatives are often carried out with European co-financing, in the form, for example, of Psr and CMO. Which, as a rule, provide resources that, if not spent, will not only not be disbursed, but may also lead to a reduction in future budgets. For this reason, the Ministry of Agriculture, urged by companies and trade organizations, took pen and paper, and in a letter signed by the Head of Department Giuseppe Blasi, and addressed to Maria Angeles Benitez Salas, Director General of the Agriculture Directorate of the European Commission, asked for a derogation of the terms and deadlines for all measures. In particular, an extension is requested to October 15 2020 for the disbursement of the balances of direct payments and to December 31, 2020 for the surface measures of Psr 2019, and, on the wine CMO front, derogations are requested “aimed at ensuring greater flexibility on the execution and timing of the planned activities, in particular for the measures for the promotion of the wine CMO, and also with regard to the reporting of the expenses of the activities for the current financial year”. Europe’s response is now expected.