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Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue is to emphasise the need for a speedy approval of Ireland’s CAP strategic plan in a meeting with the European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.
The swift granting of a green light by the Commission is needed to allow farmers to make informed business decisions, as well as to allow the Department of Agriculture to adapt to any administrative changes to schemes and payments under the new CAP, according to the Minister.
“Farmers need the certainty of the approved CAP strategic plan in order to be able to make long-term planning decision around their farm business,” he said ahead of the meeting.
“Similarly, member states need the necessary time to put in place administrative arrangements and IT systems, and to communicate with farmers about the final content of the CAP strategic plans.
“We are already working to extremely challenging timelines. Our priority now should be swift approval, which will facilitate rapid and full engagement with farmers. We simply cannot afford to wait,” stated the Minister.
Plan resubmitted by August
The Minister said that the “small number” of blocks still remaining to the plan’s approval will be discussed with the Commissioner.
“I look forward to discussing the current position on Ireland’s draft plan with Commissioner Wojciechowski and closing out the small number of outstanding issues.
“If the Commission and ourselves can do that quickly, it will allow us to resubmit our plan by the end of this month,” Minister McConalogue said.
A spokesperson from the Department told the Irish Farmers Journal that the groundwork needed to ensure the new CAP is operational by January will “intensify” over the coming months, having commenced earlier in the year.
Ministerial meeting
Minister McConalogue will also engage in discussions with his EU farm minister counterparts while in Brussels.
The meeting of the Council of Ministers will hear Ireland’s concerns on the disruption to agri-food markets arising from the invasion of Ukraine, with the Minister mentioning the availability of grain in his comments before the ministerial meeting.
“I continue to be extremely concerned about the impact on agricultural markets of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Minister McConalogue said.
“The absence of Ukrainian grain will continue to have serious implications for global food security and for the availability of feed materials. The latter has particularly negative consequences for all livestock sectors.”
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