> "Portugal has achieved, in these difficult negotiations, very positive results compared to the initial [European] Commission proposal presented in 2018, allowing conditions for a fair transition, ecological and environmental transition that leaves no one behind and that guarantees farmers' incomes and a fair price for farmers," the minister said in a statement after a marathon negotiation in Luxembourg.

The agreement reached by the Agriculture Ministers will allow, Maria do Céu Antunes said, farmers to continue "to invest in modernisation and innovation of their activity, allowing agriculture to become an attractive option for young people and capable of promoting the revitalisation of rural territories.

The new model of the CAP, which will be in force from 2021 to 2027, is based on the elaboration by each member state of a strategic plan for the area of agriculture, comprising the first pillar (direct payments) and the second (rural development).

The plans should be geared towards more environmental practices, with "minimum 20 percent allocation limits for ecological schemes ensuring sufficient flexibility to avoid under-utilisation of funds from the first pillar".

The rules also allow "the eligibility of investments in sustainable irrigation infrastructure" and maintain "the exception, existing for Portugal, of a higher level of support linked to production allowing the competitiveness and viability of specific sectors".

After the European Parliament (EP) voted its position on the CAP, the conditions will be open for the start of negotiations of the trialogue - Council of the European Union (EU) European Commission and EP - which will dominate the agenda of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2021.

The Council's position was taken after two years of negotiations under five presidencies, and interim measures are also planned for 2021 and 2022 before the CAP enters into force.