The Government will be graded by Macra on the generational renewal package in the next CAP.
“When the CAP negotiations conclude, we will be assessing whether you and your government have managed to achieve a H1 for Irish young farmers,” Macra president Josephine O’Neill told the Taoiseach at the Macra conference in Limerick last weekend. O’Neill, like Micheál Martin, is a teacher by profession.
“First and foremost, we need a CAP budget that actually delivers on its ambitions,” she said.
“We cannot expect farmers to do more with less, particularly when production costs are rising, environmental demands are growing and the pressure to deliver sustainable, competitive food production has never been greater.”
O’Neill added that the Government “must fight for a budget that matches the ambition of the policy and the needs of our farmers”.
Response
Delivering the keynote speech in response, Micheál Martin expressed the belief that there is an urgency in agreeing a budget for Europe.
“It is a very challenging negotiation,” he said. “It’s not Ireland on its own; 27 member states ultimately have to achieve the CAP budget.
“But there are issues. First of all, I believe we have to conclude the budget negotiations before the end of the year,” the Taoiseach continued. “I think there’s far too much uncertainty in 2027 with a series of elections,” he said.
There are fears among pro-European politicians that elections in France and Germany could see governments hostile to the European project elected.
Opposing camps
The Taoiseach then explained the opposing camps within the budget negotiations he is brokering.
“We have six or seven countries, known as the Frugals, who want to cut the budget substantially by several hundred billion,” he said.
“Our negotiating box was designed to try and get a landing zone that could bring this to an achievable conclusion by the end of the year. Ireland on its own preferred a bigger budget... but those countries want to cut the budget.
“They want to pivot more to defence, and to competitiveness.
“We are saying CAP and cohesion have to be protected. There are about 17 other member states who, likewise, are friends of cohesion. Those are the realities within which we have to negotiate and hammer out the deal.”
