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“It is notable that over 50c in every €1 of farm income in Ireland comes from EU payments,” Hogan said. “Where would rural Ireland be without this continued support from Europe?”
The Commissioner was speaking at a citizen’s dialogue in Kilkenny on Thursday. The EU exports €131bn worth of agricultural products, underpinning the rural economy right across Europe.
“It is not nearly as well understood as it should be that our farmers and rural areas are working on our behalf on multiple fronts,” he added. “It is essential that our farming and rural communities remain strong, vibrant and sustainable, because they are our essential partners for a huge number of every day challenges.”
Protecting the CAP budget from other demands such as climate change targets can be a challenge. However, the Commissioner was keen to point out the other benefits we get from CAP payments apart from food.
“The policy also promotes clean water and air, a well-managed countryside with good living conditions, and the maintenance of our biodiversity for future generations,” Hogan said. “Farmers and rural communities are our vital “boots on the ground” to do this important work. And the incentives provided via the CAP are realistically the only incentives capable of addressing rural living conditions, hugely important environment and climate targets, as well as the survival and development of a sector of strategic importance.”
The economic viability of the farming sector is a pre-condition not only for production of quality and safe food, but also for the sustainable management of resources and the provision of environmental public goods.
“Viable rural communities are necessary to ensure the social sustainability of the vast majority of EU territory, and our farm families are the beating heart of these communities. They provide employment, support local services and add value, notably through innovation.
“We therefore need to ensure that a new generation of young and innovative farmers have access to the profession.”
This is his argument for a modernised, simplified CAP in the upcoming reform. The European agri-food sector supports over 44m jobs across the EU, many of them in rural areas.
Since 2011, European agri-food exports have grown by 29%, outpacing all other sectors.
“It is fair to say that agriculture is one of the main drivers of Ireland’s economic recovery in the past number of years, with a third of all jobs created coming from the agri-food sector.”
London is pushing a hard border, not Brussels – Hogan
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