Despite many predicting that the political process at Stormont will fail, Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill has again said that she wants a CAP deal done well in advance of the August deadline.

If there is no agreement by 1 August, then NI moves to the default position on CAP (single region, flat-rate payment from 1 January 2015). However, answering questions this week in Stormont, the Minister said she did not think it was in anyone’s interest to drag the process out. “The decisions that I take will be balanced and fair and will be reflective of the needs of all the farming community, not just a few,” said Minister O’Neill.

When asked what would happen if the process is not concluded before the Assembly rises for the summer at the start of July, she explained that urgent procedures and mechanisms are in place to deal with that situation. “Obviously, I hope we will not be in that position. I want to get political agreement,” she said.

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The major decisions yet to be taken relate to whether NI opts for a coupled payment scheme, goes for a single or two-region model, and the period of transition to flat-rate payments.

On that subject, there seems to be some easing back from the Sinn Féin position of a few weeks ago when some senior party figures suggested immediate flat-rate payments should be introduced across NI in 2015. Instead, the line now seems to be ‘sooner rather than later’. “In moving forward, it is reasonable that there is a transition period,” said the Minister.

Decision

Meanwhile, the Fermanagh-based SDA Group urged the Minister to take whatever time is necessary to deliver a decision best for NI.

“The decisions must remove the unfair advantage held by the minority as quickly as possible, and end the massive disparity of payments among neighbours within all regions,” the group said.

The Stormont Executive is due to open an office in the Chinese capital, Beijing, as part of a strategy to develop trade links, the First Minister Peter Robinson has confirmed. Speaking in the Assembly chamber this week the First Minster said that both he and the Deputy First Minister are due to be in Beijing this November for the official opening of the office.

“That is hugely significant. Those of us who have been at the Balmoral Show over the past week will have heard from a number of farmers and producers about the importance of getting our produce out to China and the massive change that it could make to business in NI,” said the First Minister.