Asked by Lusa, Marta Temido, from the PS, currently the largest Portuguese delegation in the EP, with nine members, and Sebastião Bugalho, from the AD, which includes the PSD, with seven MEPs, agree that agricultural support should take into account the settlement of populations.

Temido advocates "a reinforcement of the redistribution mechanisms for small and medium-sized farms -- which constitute much of the fabric of rural areas -- contributing to the settlement of the population, including young farmers" and Bugalho, in tune, defends that it is "fundamental to guarantee a fair income to farmers", because only in this way can we "keep people in the activity, attract more young people to the sector and settle populations".

With a sense of urgency, the AD candidate points to the application of environmental rules, "which never give up proportionality in their application", and the socialist prioritizes the discussion of the weight of the CAP in the next multiannual financial framework.

Catarina Martins, from the BE, who elected two MEPs in 2019, believes that the CAP should "guarantee high environmental and public health standards in food production and fairly remunerate farmers, while guaranteeing affordable food prices for the population", measures that João Oliveira, from the CDU, also with two MEPs, subscribes to, also defending that "we must end the existing inequalities in the distribution of payments between countries, producers and productions and guarantee the improvement of the incomes of small and medium-sized farmers.

The communist candidate also advocates that the CAP should provide for "the creation of the principle of national preference in relation to imports from EU countries or third countries, with the adoption of mandatory marketing quotas for national production".

The top candidates for Livre, Francisco Paupério, and PAN, Pedro Fidalgo Marques, have in common the reinforcement of food security, the fight against climate change and also a distribution of support that favours small farmers.

"Instead of Europe financing the largest farms, regardless of how they produce, we support a system based on incentives, giving greater financing to farms that provide quality jobs and promote agroecology", highlights PAN.

Livre stresses that it wants to review the system of allocating direct aid, "which has favoured the most consolidated farms to the detriment of the smallest producers".

The top candidate for the IL, João Cotrim de Figueiredo, points to a necessary "lightening of the rules" of the CAP, in order to reduce the weight of costs for farmers, rejecting "an agriculture based on subsidies".

António Tânger Correia (Chega) wants to "prevent the Ecological Pact from continuing to subjugate European agricultural activity" while defending the end of bureaucracy in licensing, financing and application processes for European funds and "the absolute veto on any cut in the cohesion policy, the CAP and the POSEI" (programme for the outermost regions, such as the Azores and Madeira).

With a greater or lesser climate bias, with a greater or lesser emphasis on increasing funds and reducing the bureaucracy imposed on producers (a measure that is already underway), the leaders of the lists of parties with parliamentary representation are united in defending farmers.

The CAP consists of a set of laws adopted by the EU to establish a unified policy for the agricultural sector in EU countries.

Created in 1962 by the six founding countries of the then European Community, it is the oldest EU policy still in force, with the objectives of producing safe, high-quality and affordable food for EU citizens, ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers and preserving natural resources and respecting the environment.

The Portuguese are called, on June 9, to elect the 21 national MEPs, out of a total of 720 seats in the EP.

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