Friday 5.40pm: Over and out from the Irish Farmers Journal CAP team

Thank you all very much for joining us over the past four days.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring you a deal, but it’s clear that one isn’t far away.

Until next time - it might not be too far away.

Friday 5.25pm: Ominous warning from Minister McConalogue

Having sat up all night Thursday in a bid to strike a deal, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has warned that “difficult discussions” lie ahead.

The Minister reiterated the importance of striking a deal soon, as preparations for the new CAP begin to intensify.

“These issues are complex and difficult to resolve and will require compromise,” the Minister said.

“Our farmers need this, and time is running short if we are to have it in place by January 2023 – the alternative does not bear thinking about.”

In a warning shot to MEPs, Minister McConalogue said he looked forward to talks resuming and the Parliament adopting “a constructive and pragmatic approach”.

His full comments are available here.

Friday 5.10pm: CAP talks failed as farmers are asked to do more with less, ICSA says

The ICSA has said the CAP reform proposals have been built around an inadequate budget that can only result in farmers having their payments slashed to fund the green deal.

ICSA president Dermot Kelleher has said it is clear farmers will be asked to do more with less in the next CAP.

“In particular, it is unacceptable to see beef, suckler, sheep and tillage farmers seeing their payments fall when these sectors are so dependent on CAP payments,” Kelleher said.

You can read Kelleher’s full reaction to the CAP talks failure here.

Friday 2pm: Fears over central sticking point in negotiations ‘exaggerated’

The volume of direct payment funds to be ringfenced for eco schemes was always going to be a central plank of any potential CAP deal.

All sides actually managed to agree on a budget – 25%.

CAP talks ultimately collapsed because there was no agreement on what to do with the money if farmers failed to take up the full 25% allocation.

European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski believes the Council’s fears on this point may have been exaggerated.

He believes that there will be plenty of interest among farmers.

His and the Portuguese president’s reaction to the talks can be found here.

Friday 12.30pm: ICMSA president calls for convergence flexibility

The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has said there should be no cuts to any farmer receiving direct payments under Pillar I at a level to be agreed by member states as part of the CAP strategic plan.

ICMSA president Pat McCormack said that the Irish family farm model would be critically undermined under the proposed CAP deal.

He said that Ireland will have to insist that member states are given the necessary flexibility to address country-specific issues in any final deal.

“On Thursday evening, [the] ICMSA made a specific proposal to Minster McConalogue whereby farmers under a defined level of payment are exempt from convergence.

“Convergence is a very crude policy that will severely hit many farmers with a high payment per hectare but low overall payment.

"Everyone agrees that it doesn’t suit the Irish model and a solution has to be found to this problem,” McCormack said.

You can read the full article with McCormack’s comments here.

Friday 12pm: European Parliament first out the gate with reaction

The European Parliament’s negotiating team has been the first side involved in talks to offer its official reaction.

In a press conference, chief negotiator German MEP Norbert Lins said they were ready to resume talks again next month, but hoped there would be greater co-operation.

His fellow German MEP Peter Jahr said the compromises were ok, but small print tripped the talks up.

You read their full reaction here.

Friday 10.45am: Parliament’s agriculture committee chair disappointed at outcome of talks

Norbert Lins, chair of the European Parliament’s committee on agriculture and rural development, said he was disappointed that the Portuguese Council presidency broke off negotiations on Friday morning.

He told a press conference on Friday morning: “My goal, and our goal as a team in the European Parliament, has always been to work for the benefit of farmers, to support farmers and that’s what drives us.

“So, obviously, we’re prepared to hold new negotiations,” he said.

Friday 9.15am: Agriculture Commissioner hopeful of compromise

European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said negotiators were close to reaching an agreement this week.

He hopes that compromise can be achieved during the Portuguese presidency, which runs until 30 June 2021.

The president of the European council of agriculture ministers Maria do Céu Antunes has said that the council wants to close the deal, “but not at any cost”.

Friday 8am: INHFA urges minister to stay at the table

The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) president has urged Minister McConalogue to stay at the table and ensure the best interests of Irish farmers are represented in the ongoing CAP negotiations.

Colm O’Donnell said it is “disappointing that most of our farming organisations continue to work against a deal that delivers for the majority of Irish farmers".

"The deal currently on the table as outlined to us is a convergence model of 85%, with the option of a front-loaded payment through the Complementary Redistributive Income Support Scheme (CRISS).”

O’Donnell said it was “staggering” to think that other organisations are working against the introduction of a front-loaded payment option.

“Many of these organisations have for years championed the need to protect farmers on higher payments but with smaller farm sizes and what they do. First chance they get, they throw them under the bus,” he said.

Friday 7.15am: Hopes of a deal fade

Irish farmers will have to wait another month for an agreement on CAP reform, as negotiators in Brussels look to have fallen short at the final hurdle.

Three days of marathon talks concluded in the early hours of this morning.

Speaking from Brussels, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said that agreement hadn’t been reached and that while discussions will continue this morning, the Council had finished deliberations without agreement.

“It will have to wait now until the next time the Council recommences.

“I worked very hard to try and get an agreement but it had to be one that worked for Ireland and worked for Irish farmers,” he said.

You can read the latest update on the CAP talks in Barry Cassidy’s report.

Thursday, 11.20pm: Council of Ministers still in talks

Word from Brussels is that the Council of Ministers is still meeting, discussing the European Parliament's position.

There has been no official update from president of the European council of agriculture ministers Maria do Céu Antunes.

However, several key players, including the European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski and the chair of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee Norbert Lins, have indicated that talks will resume in the morning.

Thursday 10.15pm: No deal tonight as talks to enter fourth day

CAP talks will continue again tomorrow, the EU's Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski has said.

Thursday 9.30pm: Macra calls for more young farmer supports

As the chances of a deal being done in the coming hours grow, Macra na Feirme has called for a higher level of ringfenced funds for young farmers.

Talks at the moment appear to be centred on a 3% ringfencing for young farmers.

Macra president John Keane is also pushing for higher grant aid levels for young farmers.

Thursday 9pm: Minister ‘hopeful’ of CAP deal but outcome still uncertain

CAP talks have reached their figurative Rubicon. While everyone is winding down for bed, CAP talks are ramping up.

The final round of talks are under way and some significant compromises have been put on the table.

If they are accepted, we could have a CAP deal by Friday, if not then it could be a case of close but no cigar.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said he is hopeful a deal can be struck, but added the final outcome is still impossible to predict.

Thursday 6.45pm: Irish MEP supports front-loaded payments

Irish MEP Chris MacManus, who is in Brussels for CAP talks, supports the mandatory introduction of front-loaded payments.

He believes it will help rebalance any negative effects of convergence that could have seen farmers with small payments but above-average entitlements losing out.

Up to 10% of direct payments could be used to offer top-up payments under the latest CAP proposals.

Talks are continuing with no sign of a breakthrough. Eco schemes remain the main sticking point, according to MacManus.

Read his full interview with the Irish Farmers Journal here.

Thursday 5.00pm: ‘marathon’ negotiations continue

The president of the European council of agriculture ministers Maria do Céu Antunes has said that marathon talks are continuing this afternoon.

She has said that efforts to find common ground are essential.

Talks are expected to continue through the evening and into the night.

Thursday 2.45pm: Agriculture Commissioner backing green proposals

European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski is backing proposals to increase the level of funding going towards climate and environmental measures in the next CAP.

He wants EU agriculture ministers to back a more ambitious position.

“I know that these are not easy negotiations because we’re dealing with some major challenges, but I am convinced that in the spirit of compromise we will be able to solve the polemic issues that are still pending,” he said.

Thursday 1.00pm: Talks resume this lunchtime

The Portuguese president met with European agriculture ministers this morning after talks stalled on Wednesday night and will resume this afternoon between the Council, European Parliament and European Commission on the final deal.

Thursday 11.00am: IFA president says farming is now a minority sport

Following a meeting with the Minister for Agriculture in Brussels on Thursday morning, IFA president Tim Cullinan has said that the CAP talks are only going backwards.

“Unfortunately, farming has become a minority sport in other member states, but it’s the backbone of the Irish economy.

“It’s time for our minister to call a halt to this nonsense,” Tim Cullinan has said.

Noel Bardon reports on the IFA president’s comments here.

Thursday 10.15am: Minister McConalogue wants CAP to allow Irish agriculture to thrive

Minister McConalogue has said that he wants to ensure that the next CAP will be one which sees Irish agriculture thrive and Irish farm family incomes sustained.

He has said it is a crucial day, with negotiations set to continue through the day and night.

Thursday 9.30am: eco schemes hold the key to CAP talks

Late night talks were called off at around 11pm on Wednesday night as the Council, which represents EU agricultural ministers, could offer no further compromise.

The Portuguese presidency will hold a series of meetings on Thursday morning with groups of ministers to try to garner support in offering a budget higher than the Council’s original 20% proposal.

So what are eco schemes and why do they hold the key to the next CAP?

Wednesday 9.30pm: CAP talks to go late into the night

CAP talks in Brussels are set to continue late into Wednesday night as negotiators seek to break a deadlock over the ring-fencing of funds for eco-schemes.

Eco-schemes will be funded from Pillar I, traditionally used to provide direct payments to farmers.

The latest compromise tabled by the European Council of Ministers would see 22% of Pillar I ring-fenced for climate and environment measures.

This would increase between 2025 and 2027, as Barry Cassidy reports in full detail here.

Wednesday 9pm: Irish Farmers Journal page one

Here’s a sneak peak at our front page in tomorrow’s Irish Farmers Journal print edition.

You can buy it in shops on Thursday morning or, if you can’t wait, subscribe here to read the full e-paper at 10.30pm tonight.

Also inside, you can read about the 55,000ha of land was was previously deemed ineligible for farm payments that could become eligible in the next CAP.

The Department of Agriculture plans to include a areas that until now would be ‘red-lined’ out of payments, like scrub land, into the payment net.

Wednesday, 4pm: Top slicing all payments for a new small farm payment

In a surprise development from the talks, it has emerged that all members states could be required to implement a Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS).

Put simply, that would require a cut to all farmers’ direct payments to create a new fund, which would then be used to support smaller farms.

In the last CAP, this was an optional measure and one that Ireland did not choose to take.

Now though, it looks like the CRISS will be mandatory – so all farmers in Ireland will have their payment cut to create a fund that will then be reallocated to the benefit of smaller farms.

The size of that cut is still being debated – and you can read about it in more detail in Barry Cassidy’s story here.

Podcast: D-day for CAP talks

Listen to our weekly podcast, produced by Hannah Quinn-Mulligan, for an audio summary of what’s happening at the CAP talks, including what Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue told the Seanad before he jumped on a plane to Brussels.

Jargon buster: Do you know your CRISS from your BISS?

CAP is complicated, full of acronyms and 600-page reports. But there is help at hand!

Check out our CAP jargon buster, the definitive guide to what’s what in the current talks.

Wednesday 9am: ‘No deal is better than a bad deal’ - IFA

The IFA has said that if the EU was really ambitious about taking action on climate change, it would put up more funding, instead of taking 20% to 30% off each farmer’s direct payment.

Its president Tim Cullinan is in Brussels for the talks, in his role as vice president of the European-wide farmers organisation COPA-COGECA.

You can read more about what he told the president of the EU Agriculture Council here.

Wednesday 8.30am: CAP becoming an ‘unworkable environmental exercise’

That’s according to the ICMSA president Pat McCormack. He says the current CAP proposals will see farmers take substantial cuts to their farm income, while giving more money to consultants, inspectors and advisers.

It’s less money for more regulation and nothing meaningful in terms of sustainability. You can read more about the ICMSA’s position here.

Tuesday 12 noon: Minister for Agriculture wants to keep control over Irish payments

Kestutis Navickas, Lithuanian Minister for the Environment alongside Charlie McConalogue Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine at CAP talks in Brussels.

As he prepares to join the talks in Brussels, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue says his key objective is to ensure Ireland has three key items to be thrashed out in Brussels this week.