Ireland is working closely with other island nations Malta and Cyprus to ensure the European Union’s proposed changes to transport regulations won’t scupper Ireland’s important live animal export trade, MEP Nina Carberry has said.

“We need to keep our sea derogation,” she told the Irish Farmers Journal. The midlands north west MEP said she has submitted amendments to what she called the “hugely controversial” transport regulation.

“From an island perspective, we’re working very closely with Malta and Cyprus,” Carberry said.

“They obviously wouldn’t have as much agri-food going out, but from a logistics and freight perspective, we’re working very closely with them,” she said, adding that hauliers had huge concerns over an eight-week return system for haulage.

She said over 3,000 amendments have been submitted, which take time to assess, and it looks set to be September or into October before more will be known.

“We’ve put our amendments in to make sure that we protect the access to our single market, which is vital for our farmers…It can’t be a one-size-fits-all all approach to this regulation.

“They have to take into consideration the outermost regions and islands for the European Union, and it’s something that we’ve advocated for, and we’ll keep the pressure on up to negotiating,” she said, speaking at the National Dairy Council stand at Bloom 2025.

“We have to make sure that animal welfare is at the highest standard as well, and make sure that we have access to the single market,” she added.

CAP budget

On the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget, Carberry said there were huge concerns.

“We don’t want to see any merging of the CAP with cohesion…it’s so important that we have ring-fenced funding for CAP, but also more funding for environmental initiatives and schemes,” she said.

“It’s something that as MEPs, we need to keep fighting for, from an Irish perspective as well, and that’s something that I’d be advocating for right up to July and after and making sure our concerns are heard.”