In small steps, helped by the state. To overcome the emergencies caused by Covid and continue to grow in countryside free from pesticides. Agricultural and agri-food businesses can obtain loans for up to 10 years for amounts exceeding 30 million euros. There will also be a 70% free guarantee from the banks on the total requested. This is how a rule envisaged in the liquidity decree becomes fully operational. The news comes directly from the Ministry of Agricultural Policies in days of particular tension in the agri-food chain. Requests for aid from the government in view of the complete reopening of bars and restaurants have caused sit-ins and demonstrations in various areas of the country. But the protests actually concern requests for interventions to consolidate quality results and further increase exports, already close to 50 billion euros.
The granting of subsidized loans is not in conflict with the European directives on so-called state aid. Ismea is responsible for the dialogue with the European Commission in order not to incur sanctions when the initiative was launched.
Giuseppe L'Abbate, of the Agriculture Commission of the Chamber, explains that loans with state guarantees "represent a concrete opportunity to relaunch for companies that were suffering from a problem linked to their duration, set by the EU Commission at 6 years".
A time evidently too short to set programs and make investments especially on sustainable productions. The successes of the Italian agri-food sector even during the pandemic were made possible by targeted policies and the widespread participation of farmers in eco-sustainable programs. Not everything has been easy, as can still be seen in these weeks of preparation of the Recovery plan and the debate in Brussels on the Community agricultural policy. The eco-sustainable challenge will be the prerogative of those who have more resources available for this reason perhaps in Brussels they have not raised objections to the Italian decisions.
The implementation of the provision of the Liquidity Decree now moves to the banking side. The ABI has issued a circular to inform the banks and facilitate operations in the territories. A similar system of support could also be put in place shortly by the Mediocredito Centrale Guarantee Fund which has already written checks for more than 2,5 billion euros during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, on the European Agricultural Fund for rural development, a rift is taking place between the Regions, the government and agricultural enterprises. In the State - Regions Conference, an agreement was not reached on the distribution of funds that should help the restart in the sectors that are most eager to climb the rankings. Eco-sustainable ones are at the starting line both in the North and in the South. To overcome obstacles, the Piedmont Region, for example, asked Draghi to confirm the division proposal formulated at first by Minister Patuanelli. 15 Regions had shared it, so it is to be assumed that this other tool will soon also be available to the territories
