Emanuel Câmara, PS-M deputy in the Portuguese parliament, challenged Agriculture and Sea Minister José Manuel Fernandes over what he described as discrimination against Madeira's farmers compared with those in the Azores. The exchange took place during committee discussion of the 2027 State Budget proposal.
According to the deputy, after the August energy crisis, up to 3 million euros were earmarked for the Azores to offset rising production costs, compared with up to 500,000 euros for Madeira. In a more recent allocation, the Azores receive 1.25 million euros while Madeira receives 250,000 euros.
Câmara argues that national criteria based on farmland area and livestock numbers are unfair to Madeira, and asked the minister whether it is time to define criteria suited to the region's specific conditions.