After an in-depth process of consultation and negotiation that began in 2011, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the European Commission reached agreement on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy under the Irish Presidency on 26 June 2013.

While the CAP has undergone many reforms and changes, its principle objectives have largely remained unchanged over the years. These are to ensure a fair standard of living for farmers, to provide a stable and safe food supply at affordable prices for consumers and to assist in the balanced development of rural areas.

However new priorities have arisen in recent years which necessitated a further retargeting of the Common Agricultural Policy and its system of making Direct Payments to farmers. In particular it was necessary to take account of the accession to the European Union of thirteen new Member States as well as new challenges in the form of climate change and environmental protection.

ADVERTISEMENT

The vision expressed in Food Harvest 2020 is of a dynamic, consumer-responsive agri-food sector which can achieve sustainable growth despite the continuing challenges of volatility in input costs and world food prices. The introduction of a strong ‘greening’ component to the system of Direct Payments ensures that such growth is not achieved at the expense of our rich natural landscape as all farmers in receipt of direct payments will now deliver environmental and climate benefits as part of their everyday activities.

A dynamic agricultural sector requires the ongoing introduction of highly motivated and educated young farmers into our farming community. The new scheme of direct payments gives significant priority to young farmers both in terms of the allocation of entitlements from the National Reserve as well as providing for an additional payment through the Young Farmers Scheme. The new system also favours supporting active farmers.

It is no longer possible to justify the significant differences in the level of support per hectare granted to farmers based on the use of historical references. In this regard, Ireland will implement a convergence model which, while initially retaining the link with current payments under the Single Payment Scheme, gradually moves all farmers towards, but does not arrive at, a national average value. The purpose of this model is to achieve a phased redistribution of payments between those who currently hold high value entitlements and those who hold low value entitlements. It introduces a fair and equitable re-distribution of funds between farmers while avoiding the negative impact of a sudden and significant change in income support for individual farmers.

In developing and implementing the CAP reform package, the Department will seek to deliver a smooth transition to the new direct payments support regime. However the new system is different than the current Single Payment Scheme and the timescale for implementation is short. In this regard, I encourage all farmers to finalise any issues that remain outstanding from the current Single Payment Scheme and this booklet will help you to do that. In particular I recommend that all farmers register for, and use, the online application system. The transition to the new system will be much easier for farmers who use this system as it reduces the risk of error both for the claimant farmer and for the Department.

The outcome of the CAP reform negotiations has been very positive for Ireland. The new CAP provides a platform for delivering on the very ambitious targets set out in the Government’s Food Harvest 2020 Strategy, to grow exports and create jobs in the agri-food sector. The €12.5bn investment involved means farmers and the wider agri-food sector now have both budgetary and policy certainty for the duration of the new CAP over the coming years. I look forward to working with you to achieve the targets set out in FH2020 and build on the great success of recent years.

Simon Coveney TD

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine