The eco scheme proposed under pillar I of the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be mandatory for all farmers and not voluntary, as proposed by the European Commission, according to Colm O’Donnell.

The Irish Natura and Hill Farmer Association (INHFA) president told the Irish Farmers Journal that the eco scheme should account for 30% of payments under pillar I and should replace greening. It has not been decided how much CAP money will be allocated for eco schemes.

Listen to "INHFA president Colm O’Donnell on the next CAP" on Spreaker.

O’Donnell said that if sign up to the eco scheme is voluntary, an intensive farmer who currently could be a polluter can remain on track and continue with that type of practice.

“It should be mandatory for all farmers. It would have a flat rate payment per hectare for all farms,” he said.

If Ireland chooses to keep the scheme voluntary, in that case no more than 1% of the CAP budget should go towards eco schemes, he said.

In the next CAP, the Basic Payment Scheme will change to the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS). O’Donnell said that nutrient management plans will be a condition of BISS, along with the adequate protection of watercourses – both of which are voluntary measures in the current CAP for farmers.

“What adequate protection means is unclear. If they are now [conditions] in BISS, any environmental measures in pillar II must go above and beyond that.

“You then can’t use them as part of the eco scheme or in [schemes in] pillar I.

“The Commissioner’s proposal is leaving it very onerous on certain types of farming and that’s why we believe the eco scheme should be mandatory,” he said.

ANCs

The review of the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme vindicates the challenges faced by farmers in those areas, according to O’Donnell.

“The ANC scheme is a payment for income foregone and costs incurred associated with the farming system. Our campaign going forward for ANC is that additional money is put in there for the remaining two years of the current CAP programme.

“We will be looking for another €25m to go into it for 2020. We have looked for the next round of CAP to support the ANC scheme, bringing it up to €336m,” he said.

Convergence

O’Donnell said that the redistribution of payments should continue on the current model of internal convergence, but that the CAP proposal is saying that all payments must go to at least 75% of the national average by the end of the next CAP. This should be 100%, according to O’Donnell.

“During the lifetime of the next CAP programme, payments should be fully converged by the end of the next programme. It should be more ambitious.”

Nineteen of the 27 member states will be fully converged in 2019, until Ireland reaches that point it can’t look at another payment delivery model.