Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has said that the aim is for the new CAP to start on 1 January 2028.
The Minister was responding to a question from Irish Farmers Journal sheep and schemes editor Darren Carty at the Agricultural Science Association’s CAP 2028 event on Thursday 12 November.
The Minister acknowledged that “the timing of it is challenging”, but added that “with a fair wind and all going in our favour” it could be done.
He noted that the budget still needs to be set, but with many elections coming up in countries like France and Italy next year, there is momentum to get the budget agreed by the end of 2026.
The Minister said that how the CAP progresses is a decision for the European Commission. He acknowledged that history shows the CAP has taken a long time to develop and agree. However, he said the new CAP could be agreed by mid-2027 and finalised going into the Greek Presidency.
Earlier in his address, the Minister talked about the unanimous agreement among member states on a partial, general approach.
The Minister said: "For farmers, the future CAP must be flexible.”
He said while there is an opportunity for simplification it must be meaningful, focused on farmers and the requirements should be straightforward.
He also pointed out that 43% of farmers (National Farm Survey data) have an off-farm income in Ireland and that the food and drink they produce is just as important as that produced on full-time farms.
