An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has pledged to top up any shortfall in the next CAP budget, a move that would effectively insulate farmers from a potential funding shortfall of €100m per year.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney echoed those comments in an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal.
Justin McCarthy (JM): Tánaiste, we heard the Taoiseach giving a commitment earlier obviously to fighting hard to maintain the CAP budget. I think my colleague Caitriona Morrissey asked that if that’s not the case, would a Fine Gael budget top up with exchequer funding. I think the Taoiseach gave a strong reassurance – is that your view?
Tánaiste Simon Coveney (SC): It is. I think people would expect this from Fine Gael – we will prioritise agriculture in every budget and that’s what we have been doing particularly over the last nine years and we will do that, through fighting for the protection of the CAP budget centrally, but also if the CAP budget doesn’t give agriculture what we regard as the support it needs, well then we will of course look to top that up. I think there will be the flexibility in the new CAP to be able to do that – certainly Phil Hogan when he was there signalled that. So I mean, make no mistake, I meant it when I said agriculture is a big priority to the party. It should be because it’s the heartbeat of most rural communities.
JM: So, to give farmers the confidence, if the CAP budget isn’t maintained and the Commission’s cut of 5% goes ahead, under an FG-led government, that would be supported through national exchequer funds.
SC: Well, we will have to actually look at what the figures are and factor that into budget arithmetic, but certainly there is an openness in FG to put more exchequer money in to compensate if necessary for not getting a sufficient CAP budget.
JM: Obviously Tánaiste, you have led the charge on Brexit from a government point of view – we heard in terms of trade - no tariffs, no quotas - as the objective but you would have to be very concerned about reports coming from the UK cabinet over the weekend in terms of divergence from standards / mounting a parallel trade agreement between US and Europe at the same time – we are 11 months away – are you more concerned now than you were at any time of Brexit negotiations that we could potentially be headed for a hard Brexit?
SC: First of all, we have successfully managed to protect Ireland through the first phase of Brexit which was about focusing on getting the withdrawal agreement in place, protecting the peace process, preventing the border infrastructure process on the island, which is also hugely important for agriculture by the way, in terms of moving animals and so on and we managed to get that done, against the odds.
Most people felt that wasn’t going to happen and we succeeded. In my view, we can use the same team to succeed in the second half of this challenge, which is to get a trade deal in place that’s good for Irish farmers, Irish agriculture and the food industry as a whole. Farmers don’t need me to tell them that we sell in and around €5bn worth of food and drink to the UK each year. That is a huge part of our agri food exports.
JM: Farmers know that. What happens in 11 months’ time if we take the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s comments made at the weekend in the Financial Times to be where we end up? We are going to end up in a very difficult position.
SC: What the Chancellor of the Exchequer said – there wouldn’t be full alignment with the EU single market. In other words, let me develop that point – what he is saying there is that Britain isn’t going to be a rule taker from the single market if it isn’t part of it and, while I hear what he is saying the truth is there won’t be a trade deal that is quota-free and tariff-free unless there is a level playing field in terms of how product is produced in the UK vs how it is produced in the rest of the EU.
The EU will never allow a situation where we allow the UK to develop a competitive advantage for itself by driving down the cost of production by deregulating and then selling freely into the single market. I don’t think Irish farmers would see that as fair and I don’t think that manufacturing industries across the EU would accept that either.
What’s needed here is a sensible deal that allows for tariff-free and quota-free trade both ways
So, what’s needed here is a sensible deal that allows for tariff-free and quota-free trade both ways between the UK and the EU. In order to make that happen, there needs to be a very clear level playing field. That needs to be protected by a disputes resolution mechanism – it needs to be monitored where it gives confidence to both sides and I believe we can negotiate that.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Simon Coveney and Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed chat with local farmer Mary Twomey Casey, Ballyhooley, Co Cork at Cork Marts in Fermoy. \ Donal O'Leary
JM: Is there anything you can negotiate to protect the value of the UK market Tánaiste? Because you are right, trade tariffs and quotas are one element of it, but if Irish product is sitting on a retail shelf beside British, Brazilian, USA, there is a huge devaluation.
SC: If it is sitting next to US product that doesn’t comply with EU standards, then we have a big problem because, if we have hormone beef and GM beef coming into the UK, there is going to be barriers between the UK and the EU in terms of trade because for pies -and for all sorts of the other processed products that come from the UK to Ireland and elsewhere - we won’t be able to trust the provenance of where that product is coming from.
So the UK understand that – they understand the rules of trade – they understand how the EU works – they have been part of the EU for over 45 years so there are no secrets here. So regardless of what the Chancellor of the Exchequer says, the negotiating teams and the Prime Minister’s office will understand only too well the rules of engagement to get a fair trade deal for both sides.
My job, if I have the opportunity to do it, is to make sure Ireland’s interests are protected in negotiations. That’s why I met Michel Barnier yesterday – that’s why he is coming to Ireland in the not too distant future and I believe that the Fine Gael-led team that has delivered a successful outcome to protect Ireland in the first round of Brexit is best placed to deliver a good outcome for farming and for agriculture in the context of a trade deal.
EU lead Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier
JM: Did yourself and Michel Barnier have a conversation about the financial package that may be required if what we talk about doesn’t happen and if we end up in a no-deal Brexit scenario?
SC: No, I mean he doesn’t control that. What we focused on was getting a good deal, which is what we have focused on for the last two years, in terms of the withdrawal agreement and what we have successfully concluded in that.
In my view, we will successfully conclude a good deal on trade as well, but there are going to be real bumps along the way. I think this is going to be a difficult negotiation – I think there will be tensions, there will be grandstanding and, unfortunately, some of the lessons of the first round of Brexit negotiations haven’t been learned, but it is in the best interest of Britain and the EU to get a sensible deal by the end of this year on trade and I believe that Ireland will be central to that and I hope people will trust an experienced team that have done a good job on the first round of Brexit to get it done.
JM: A final question on Mercosur and standards – are you comfortable with the Mercosur trade deal, given that Brazil deforested 1m hectares of Amazon rainforest last year, in terms of equivalence of standards and, if you are not convinced, will Ireland use its veto in blocking the Mercosur trade deal?
SC: The straight answer to that is that I’m not comfortable with it – I don’t think that’s any secret. The Taoiseach has outlined that view as well. He has said that we will undertake a detailed economic impact of Mercosur to study the consequences for Ireland of this.
What I would say on Mercosur is that there is a long, long way to go on this in terms of the European Parliament’s views, individual member states views, much of it linked to climate and climate action, so while there may have been agreement in principle on Mercosur, there is a long way to go in terms of debate and that deal is a long way from being ratified.
JM: Tánaiste, you are in the heart of Cork here, dairy country – under a Fine Gael-led government, will there be any environmental quotas introduced for dairying?
SC: I am the minister who did away with dairy quotas. I stand over that. That doesn’t mean that I am not determined to work with farmers to make sure that we make a transition to a proof of sustainability if you like, of that growth of the dairy sector.
Agriculture, like every other sector in Ireland, needs to show that it is sustainable from a climate and environmental perspective. We have a plan to do that – we will work with farming organisations and Teagasc – that’s factored into our national Climate Action Plan and Ireland I think is going to be one of the countries in the world that can show that we can produce more food, but we can do it with a reduced carbon footprint and I think farmers are up for that and I think unlike other parties who blamed farmers in the context of the climate debate, we listened to them, we worked with them and we had them make the changes and the transitions that they need to make.
JM: But you cannot foresee in the next five years – the next term of government – dairy farmers being faced with quotas preventing them from seeking opportunities?
SC: I don’t think so – I mean I think there will be restrictions that won’t be imposed by regulation, but they will be natural restrictions, because you can only grow to such a capacity, given the resources that you work with, and, at the same time, protect the soil, protect the environment and ensure that you have the right animal husbandry and animal welfare standards that are expected in the CAP, so there are natural limits that most dairy farmers can grow to.
Some of them have reached those limits, others deserve the opportunity to get there
Some of them have reached those limits, others deserve the opportunity to get there, but that journey has got to be sustainable and we have got to scientifically show that it is sustainable.
I was the minister that set up the dairy sustainability scheme that farmers bought into in huge numbers and I think that if we work with farmers and show them the respect of people who work with the environment every day, we can make significant progress in terms of the climate challenge in the agriculture sector, just like in other sectors such as transport and energy.
Read more
Weekly podcast: Taoiseach pledges to use national funding to top up CAP
Beef regulator with 'real teeth' promised
Editorial: Britain and Brussels on course for a Brexit bust-up
An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has pledged to top up any shortfall in the next CAP budget, a move that would effectively insulate farmers from a potential funding shortfall of €100m per year.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney echoed those comments in an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal.
Justin McCarthy (JM): Tánaiste, we heard the Taoiseach giving a commitment earlier obviously to fighting hard to maintain the CAP budget. I think my colleague Caitriona Morrissey asked that if that’s not the case, would a Fine Gael budget top up with exchequer funding. I think the Taoiseach gave a strong reassurance – is that your view?
Tánaiste Simon Coveney (SC): It is. I think people would expect this from Fine Gael – we will prioritise agriculture in every budget and that’s what we have been doing particularly over the last nine years and we will do that, through fighting for the protection of the CAP budget centrally, but also if the CAP budget doesn’t give agriculture what we regard as the support it needs, well then we will of course look to top that up. I think there will be the flexibility in the new CAP to be able to do that – certainly Phil Hogan when he was there signalled that. So I mean, make no mistake, I meant it when I said agriculture is a big priority to the party. It should be because it’s the heartbeat of most rural communities.
JM: So, to give farmers the confidence, if the CAP budget isn’t maintained and the Commission’s cut of 5% goes ahead, under an FG-led government, that would be supported through national exchequer funds.
SC: Well, we will have to actually look at what the figures are and factor that into budget arithmetic, but certainly there is an openness in FG to put more exchequer money in to compensate if necessary for not getting a sufficient CAP budget.
JM: Obviously Tánaiste, you have led the charge on Brexit from a government point of view – we heard in terms of trade - no tariffs, no quotas - as the objective but you would have to be very concerned about reports coming from the UK cabinet over the weekend in terms of divergence from standards / mounting a parallel trade agreement between US and Europe at the same time – we are 11 months away – are you more concerned now than you were at any time of Brexit negotiations that we could potentially be headed for a hard Brexit?
SC: First of all, we have successfully managed to protect Ireland through the first phase of Brexit which was about focusing on getting the withdrawal agreement in place, protecting the peace process, preventing the border infrastructure process on the island, which is also hugely important for agriculture by the way, in terms of moving animals and so on and we managed to get that done, against the odds.
Most people felt that wasn’t going to happen and we succeeded. In my view, we can use the same team to succeed in the second half of this challenge, which is to get a trade deal in place that’s good for Irish farmers, Irish agriculture and the food industry as a whole. Farmers don’t need me to tell them that we sell in and around €5bn worth of food and drink to the UK each year. That is a huge part of our agri food exports.
JM: Farmers know that. What happens in 11 months’ time if we take the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s comments made at the weekend in the Financial Times to be where we end up? We are going to end up in a very difficult position.
SC: What the Chancellor of the Exchequer said – there wouldn’t be full alignment with the EU single market. In other words, let me develop that point – what he is saying there is that Britain isn’t going to be a rule taker from the single market if it isn’t part of it and, while I hear what he is saying the truth is there won’t be a trade deal that is quota-free and tariff-free unless there is a level playing field in terms of how product is produced in the UK vs how it is produced in the rest of the EU.
The EU will never allow a situation where we allow the UK to develop a competitive advantage for itself by driving down the cost of production by deregulating and then selling freely into the single market. I don’t think Irish farmers would see that as fair and I don’t think that manufacturing industries across the EU would accept that either.
What’s needed here is a sensible deal that allows for tariff-free and quota-free trade both ways
So, what’s needed here is a sensible deal that allows for tariff-free and quota-free trade both ways between the UK and the EU. In order to make that happen, there needs to be a very clear level playing field. That needs to be protected by a disputes resolution mechanism – it needs to be monitored where it gives confidence to both sides and I believe we can negotiate that.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Simon Coveney and Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed chat with local farmer Mary Twomey Casey, Ballyhooley, Co Cork at Cork Marts in Fermoy. \ Donal O'Leary
JM: Is there anything you can negotiate to protect the value of the UK market Tánaiste? Because you are right, trade tariffs and quotas are one element of it, but if Irish product is sitting on a retail shelf beside British, Brazilian, USA, there is a huge devaluation.
SC: If it is sitting next to US product that doesn’t comply with EU standards, then we have a big problem because, if we have hormone beef and GM beef coming into the UK, there is going to be barriers between the UK and the EU in terms of trade because for pies -and for all sorts of the other processed products that come from the UK to Ireland and elsewhere - we won’t be able to trust the provenance of where that product is coming from.
So the UK understand that – they understand the rules of trade – they understand how the EU works – they have been part of the EU for over 45 years so there are no secrets here. So regardless of what the Chancellor of the Exchequer says, the negotiating teams and the Prime Minister’s office will understand only too well the rules of engagement to get a fair trade deal for both sides.
My job, if I have the opportunity to do it, is to make sure Ireland’s interests are protected in negotiations. That’s why I met Michel Barnier yesterday – that’s why he is coming to Ireland in the not too distant future and I believe that the Fine Gael-led team that has delivered a successful outcome to protect Ireland in the first round of Brexit is best placed to deliver a good outcome for farming and for agriculture in the context of a trade deal.
EU lead Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier
JM: Did yourself and Michel Barnier have a conversation about the financial package that may be required if what we talk about doesn’t happen and if we end up in a no-deal Brexit scenario?
SC: No, I mean he doesn’t control that. What we focused on was getting a good deal, which is what we have focused on for the last two years, in terms of the withdrawal agreement and what we have successfully concluded in that.
In my view, we will successfully conclude a good deal on trade as well, but there are going to be real bumps along the way. I think this is going to be a difficult negotiation – I think there will be tensions, there will be grandstanding and, unfortunately, some of the lessons of the first round of Brexit negotiations haven’t been learned, but it is in the best interest of Britain and the EU to get a sensible deal by the end of this year on trade and I believe that Ireland will be central to that and I hope people will trust an experienced team that have done a good job on the first round of Brexit to get it done.
JM: A final question on Mercosur and standards – are you comfortable with the Mercosur trade deal, given that Brazil deforested 1m hectares of Amazon rainforest last year, in terms of equivalence of standards and, if you are not convinced, will Ireland use its veto in blocking the Mercosur trade deal?
SC: The straight answer to that is that I’m not comfortable with it – I don’t think that’s any secret. The Taoiseach has outlined that view as well. He has said that we will undertake a detailed economic impact of Mercosur to study the consequences for Ireland of this.
What I would say on Mercosur is that there is a long, long way to go on this in terms of the European Parliament’s views, individual member states views, much of it linked to climate and climate action, so while there may have been agreement in principle on Mercosur, there is a long way to go in terms of debate and that deal is a long way from being ratified.
JM: Tánaiste, you are in the heart of Cork here, dairy country – under a Fine Gael-led government, will there be any environmental quotas introduced for dairying?
SC: I am the minister who did away with dairy quotas. I stand over that. That doesn’t mean that I am not determined to work with farmers to make sure that we make a transition to a proof of sustainability if you like, of that growth of the dairy sector.
Agriculture, like every other sector in Ireland, needs to show that it is sustainable from a climate and environmental perspective. We have a plan to do that – we will work with farming organisations and Teagasc – that’s factored into our national Climate Action Plan and Ireland I think is going to be one of the countries in the world that can show that we can produce more food, but we can do it with a reduced carbon footprint and I think farmers are up for that and I think unlike other parties who blamed farmers in the context of the climate debate, we listened to them, we worked with them and we had them make the changes and the transitions that they need to make.
JM: But you cannot foresee in the next five years – the next term of government – dairy farmers being faced with quotas preventing them from seeking opportunities?
SC: I don’t think so – I mean I think there will be restrictions that won’t be imposed by regulation, but they will be natural restrictions, because you can only grow to such a capacity, given the resources that you work with, and, at the same time, protect the soil, protect the environment and ensure that you have the right animal husbandry and animal welfare standards that are expected in the CAP, so there are natural limits that most dairy farmers can grow to.
Some of them have reached those limits, others deserve the opportunity to get there
Some of them have reached those limits, others deserve the opportunity to get there, but that journey has got to be sustainable and we have got to scientifically show that it is sustainable.
I was the minister that set up the dairy sustainability scheme that farmers bought into in huge numbers and I think that if we work with farmers and show them the respect of people who work with the environment every day, we can make significant progress in terms of the climate challenge in the agriculture sector, just like in other sectors such as transport and energy.
Read more
Weekly podcast: Taoiseach pledges to use national funding to top up CAP
Beef regulator with 'real teeth' promised
Editorial: Britain and Brussels on course for a Brexit bust-up
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: