The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food has expressed concern with the proposed abolition of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget as a standing source of funds in the EU budget from 2028 onwards.
The European Commission confirmed on Wednesday that plans subsuming the CAP’s budget into a larger national and regional partnership fund which covers funding areas outside of farming.
The Commission maintains that €300bn will be ringfenced for spending on farmers, as it wants to dissolve the two-pillar structure of CAP, but this figure roughly equates to just what pillar one contains in the current budget.
The Oireachtas committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Aindrias Moynihan, said that its concerns with the Commission’s plans centre on the potential of revamped budget structure to siphon funds away from farmers under the guise of increasing flexibility and efficiency.
Negotiations
The committee called on both the Government and Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon to keep “Irish farmers' interests front and centre in all negotiations” around the EU budget shake-up.
“At this early juncture of negotiations, the joint committee on agriculture and food would like to express its deep concerns with the provisions contained within these proposals,” Moynihan stated on Thursday.
“With the Commission expected to merge CAP into an EU cohesion, migration and infrastructure fund, we are cognisant that there is significant unease in the farming sector at the prospect that agriculture will no longer have a ringfenced budget.
“Members have concerns that these proposals will see the financial supports received by the approximately 120,000 Irish farmers annually of around €2bn in CAP payments to help support the rural economy and food production being directed away from farming and into other areas.”
Read more
€300bn ringfenced for farm 'income supports' in official EU budget plans
CAP entitlement changes and new reference period proposed
40,000 older farmers face farm payments wipeout
EU seeks to demolish dedicated CAP budget
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food has expressed concern with the proposed abolition of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget as a standing source of funds in the EU budget from 2028 onwards.
The European Commission confirmed on Wednesday that plans subsuming the CAP’s budget into a larger national and regional partnership fund which covers funding areas outside of farming.
The Commission maintains that €300bn will be ringfenced for spending on farmers, as it wants to dissolve the two-pillar structure of CAP, but this figure roughly equates to just what pillar one contains in the current budget.
The Oireachtas committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Aindrias Moynihan, said that its concerns with the Commission’s plans centre on the potential of revamped budget structure to siphon funds away from farmers under the guise of increasing flexibility and efficiency.
Negotiations
The committee called on both the Government and Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon to keep “Irish farmers' interests front and centre in all negotiations” around the EU budget shake-up.
“At this early juncture of negotiations, the joint committee on agriculture and food would like to express its deep concerns with the provisions contained within these proposals,” Moynihan stated on Thursday.
“With the Commission expected to merge CAP into an EU cohesion, migration and infrastructure fund, we are cognisant that there is significant unease in the farming sector at the prospect that agriculture will no longer have a ringfenced budget.
“Members have concerns that these proposals will see the financial supports received by the approximately 120,000 Irish farmers annually of around €2bn in CAP payments to help support the rural economy and food production being directed away from farming and into other areas.”
Read more
€300bn ringfenced for farm 'income supports' in official EU budget plans
CAP entitlement changes and new reference period proposed
40,000 older farmers face farm payments wipeout
EU seeks to demolish dedicated CAP budget
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