Europe doesn’t give any support payment to farmers who have good habitats and this shouldn’t be the case, Midlands Northwest MEP Mairead McGuinness has said.
She told the Irish Farmers Journal this week that currently that area is deducted from payment.
“Michael Creed has actually suggested, and I’ve done likewise with Commissioner Hogan, that that shouldn’t be the case.
Clever
“Because what we end up doing then is putting up schemes where the farmers might be tempted to rip out an existing hedgerow, to plant to get into a scheme for example wildflowers or something, in order to get money. So I think we need to be a bit more clever about that and Timmermans will be the commissioner who will be responsible,” she said.
McGuinness, who is also first vice president of the European Parliament, said that as a result of incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s green deal, “we don’t know where agriculture sits within it, but there’ll be huge pressure on it”.
Money
The next CAP will be “a continuation of the last CAP where there was no good news for anybody because the budget is tighter,” she said.
“This time, we’re quite uncertain about how much money will be there. It depends on how we direct the money on the agri-environment schemes. Those issues are not decided.
“I think there’s going to be an almighty row in the parliament between environmental and agricultural issues, if they remain in a silo,” she said.
She said she wants to try and get people to think “across the way”.
Frustration
On the recent beef protests, McGuinness said they showed the frustration at farm level and how competition law does not sit well with primary production.
“One of the things that I’ve tried to get across in DG Competition is that they need to look at the food chain as something different because it relies on natural environment and biodiversity and all those things.
There should be an independent regulator for the food supply chain
“When we go out shopping we don’t pay for that in our food. So we do need competition law to change somewhat to take account of it.
“Even the competition authority in Ireland when it came to unfair trading practices legislation they don’t want to handle it, because they think it shouldn’t sit with them, that there should be an independent regulator for the food supply chain, which I think is a good idea.
Environmental pressure
“I think we need that particularly with all the environmental pressure and climate action, that will have an impact at farm level.”
Read more
Blind convergence will cause huge problems – McGuinness
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Europe doesn’t give any support payment to farmers who have good habitats and this shouldn’t be the case, Midlands Northwest MEP Mairead McGuinness has said.
She told the Irish Farmers Journal this week that currently that area is deducted from payment.
“Michael Creed has actually suggested, and I’ve done likewise with Commissioner Hogan, that that shouldn’t be the case.
Clever
“Because what we end up doing then is putting up schemes where the farmers might be tempted to rip out an existing hedgerow, to plant to get into a scheme for example wildflowers or something, in order to get money. So I think we need to be a bit more clever about that and Timmermans will be the commissioner who will be responsible,” she said.
McGuinness, who is also first vice president of the European Parliament, said that as a result of incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s green deal, “we don’t know where agriculture sits within it, but there’ll be huge pressure on it”.
Money
The next CAP will be “a continuation of the last CAP where there was no good news for anybody because the budget is tighter,” she said.
“This time, we’re quite uncertain about how much money will be there. It depends on how we direct the money on the agri-environment schemes. Those issues are not decided.
“I think there’s going to be an almighty row in the parliament between environmental and agricultural issues, if they remain in a silo,” she said.
She said she wants to try and get people to think “across the way”.
Frustration
On the recent beef protests, McGuinness said they showed the frustration at farm level and how competition law does not sit well with primary production.
“One of the things that I’ve tried to get across in DG Competition is that they need to look at the food chain as something different because it relies on natural environment and biodiversity and all those things.
There should be an independent regulator for the food supply chain
“When we go out shopping we don’t pay for that in our food. So we do need competition law to change somewhat to take account of it.
“Even the competition authority in Ireland when it came to unfair trading practices legislation they don’t want to handle it, because they think it shouldn’t sit with them, that there should be an independent regulator for the food supply chain, which I think is a good idea.
Environmental pressure
“I think we need that particularly with all the environmental pressure and climate action, that will have an impact at farm level.”
Read more
Blind convergence will cause huge problems – McGuinness
Farmers blast plans for further payment flattening
Weekly Podcast: incoming Commissioner anti-live exports and helicopter rescue
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