There is just a small percentage of Irish farmers who would be hit with the income support limits proposed in the European Commission’s plans for the post-2027 CAP, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said.
The plans state that a new process of ‘degressivity’ would reduce area-based income supports valued above €20,000 and limit payments to €100,000 per farmer.
Speaking at a meeting of EU farm ministers on Monday, Minister Heydon expressed concern that the proposed capping and degressivity tools could still have “unintended effects on productive capacity”.
“In Ireland, initial modelling suggests that [while] only a small percentage of farms will be affected by degressivity proposals, those farms account for a significant share of total agricultural output,” he said.
The European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen also addressed the meeting, stating that 96% of the EU’s farmers would not be impacted by the capping of income support payments at €100,000 and payment cuts for those who would otherwise have been due more than €20,000 without degressivity.
The commissioner clarified that coupled supports, agri environmental scheme payments and investment aid “will not be subject to capping and degressivity”.
He also claimed that member states opposed to the changes will have the flexibility to target payments to groups they want to see receive payments, saying that coupled payments are an option for those wanting to “better target supports to active food production”.
SHARING OPTIONS