Members of the EU environmental committee have voted in favour of backing proposals to ring-fence €15bn of the CAP budget to support “biodiversity objectives”.

This equates to a quarter of the EU’s €58.82bn budget for agriculture.

The proposal came from an Italian MEP and it proposed earmarking at least 30% of Pillar 1 payments for eco-schemes centred on climate and the environment. In Pillar 2, it was proposed that 40% of the budget should be devoted to these objectives.

The vote, taken in Strasbourg on 14 February, was passed by 42 votes in favour to 14 against with three abstentions. Irish MEP Nessa Childers voted in favour of the proposal. No other Irish MEP was involved in the vote.

Results-based payments

It comes as preparations for the next CAP begin to ramp up ahead of EU elections in May. Under draft proposals produced by European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan, member states must produce their own CAP strategic plans, outlining how payments will be made on a performance and results basis.

The environmental committee said that all farm subsidies must be conditional on increasing dedicated farmland to enhancing biodiversity and protecting water.

Factory farms

It also said payments which lead to intensive livestock production in factory farms should not be permitted.

A number of environmental groups welcomed the result and called on the EU agricultural committee to adopt a similar approach.

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