The best outcome to be hoped for from Brexit, according to the Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan, is a comprehensive free trade agreement between the EU and UK.

“There will be no agriculture deal and the continued pursuit of such an outcome is folly,” Hogan told conference in Goffs on Monday. “That is exactly why a comprehensive free trade agreement, with a tariff-free transition period, probably represents the best option to achieve your objective of continued access to the UK market.”

Chief negotiator for the European Parliament, Michel Barnier, has said recently that the free trade agreement to be made with the UK “cannot be equivalent to what exists today”.

Budget

Hogan added that the CAP budget will not be immune to the implications of Brexit and other pressures such as migration, security and defence. However Hogan says he believes the CAP budget can be justified.

“It is a period of uncertainty for all of us, but not alone must you have some clear objectives, you also need clarity about how those objectives are to be achieved,” Hogan said. “This has to manifest itself in a clear plan, one to which your entire industry should be able to subscribe and one which is consistent with that of the government.”

The ‘exit bill’ for the UK is likely to be a subject for debate as negotiations begin next month.

However the Commissioner was keen to outline that the value of UK trade with the EU is over €600bn per year, the settlement will only be a small fraction of that, paid presumably over several years.

British consumers

Hogan described the UK Prime Minister’s intentions to pursue an international trade agenda, based on “notions of an Empire 2.0” as “somewhat fanciful”.

“Would British farmers and consumers accept hormone beef and chlorine chicken on their supermarket shelves? I seriously doubt it.”

“There may yet be a bloodbath over these issues. Meanwhile in the EU we can rest easy in the knowledge that our negotiating weight in trade deals means that our partners rise to our standards, rather than us lowering to theirs.”

The European Council will meet on Saturday to adopt the negotiating guidelines. Negotiations with the UK should start next month.

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