Replying to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil’s agriculture spokesman Charlie McConalogue, Minister Creed acknowledged that there are growing pressures on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

A new CAP will be put in place after 2020 and the British also plan to leave the EU in that year, putting twin pressures on the European agricultural support system.

Creed said that it is expected that the UK’s exit from the EU will reduce the overall EU budget by between 5% and 10%. “This will undoubtedly have implications for future spending decisions in what is already a very tight budgetary framework,” he told the Dáil.

37% of the EU budget

The CAP accounts for some 37% of the EU budget, and Creed acknowledged that there has been “ongoing pressure from some member states to reduce this proportion and to divert EU spending to newer policy issues such as migration, external action and development co-operation.

It is important that the CAP continues to evolve in a way that supports the achievement of European priorities

“The size and distribution of the future CAP budget will be determined as part of the process for agreeing the next EU multiannual financial framework for the post-2020 period,” he added. Discussions on the post-2020 CAP are due to commence later this year.

Creed concluded that one of the key challenges is to maintain a strong CAP budget in the post-2020 period.

“It is important that the CAP continues to evolve in a way that supports the achievement of European priorities, particularly in the context of securing a strong CAP budget for the post-2020 period,” he said.

“This can only be achieved by reinforcing the relevance and effectiveness of the policy in helping to achieve broader societal goals. This is something that I strongly believe in and will actively pursue at Council level as the debate on the future CAP and its budget intensifies over the coming months”.

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