Günther Oettinger, the EU Budget Commissioner has told the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in Brussels that proposed cuts to the next Common Agricutural Policy (CAP) budget are sensible.

“There’s going to be a shortfall of €12bn-€13bn after Brexit because the UK is a net contributor.

“I’ve talked about cuts to the tune of 5% to 10% which I think are sensible.

“Do we want to have cuts on one pillar or both pillars? That’s for you to decide, you are the experts.

“When it comes to talking about 30% cuts, those are just scenarios and that is not the Commission’s position.

“I’d love to make promises but I like to say things I can stick to and I want to survive negotiations.”

Decision time

Commissioner Oettinger, stated that a main issue was the lack of unanimity among member states in the face of dealing with the budget shortfall from Brexit, with different member states making varying requests on the next CAP budget.

CAP accounts for a large portion of farm incomes in Ireland and the EU, and farm organisations here have been actively campaigning to have the budget increased to support farmers.

“We’ve got 27 national parliaments and they all have to agree and it’s tough going,” Oettinger said.

“One thing is decisive here, if we do not manage to achieve unanimity among member states in the next seven years of the Multi-Financial Framework, it’s our consumers and our farmers who will be the losers and Erdogan, Putin and Trump who will be the winners."

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