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The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to reject a motion that would have scrapped the draft CAP proposals and sent them sent back to the European Commission to be redesigned.
MEPs in the Parliament voted on amendments to the CAP proposals on Tuesday night ahead of finalising their position on the reform of the EU’s farm policy for the next seven years.
Amendment 1147 would have rejected the proposals and some MEPs and environmental lobby groups had backed it on the basis that the next CAP will not go far enough on environmental and climate action.
Results
The results on the amendment were 503 votes against, 166 votes for, and 22 abstentions.
12 Irish MEPs took part in the vote. Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher and Barry Andrews along with Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgerald, Maria Walsh, Deirdre Clune, and Sean Kelly voted against it. The other half of Irish MEPs including Ciaran Cuffe and Grace O'Sullivan of the Green Party, Sinn Féin's Chris MacManus, and Independents Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly.
A raft of other amendments put forward by an alliance of parties, including Fine Gael’s group the European People’s Party (EEP) EP and Fianna Fáil’s group Renew, were passed on the night.
These amendments will set much of the Parliament’s agenda when it enters trilogue negotiations with the European Council and European Commission.
Final vote
The CAP is still not over the line in Parliament as a vote on the amended package, consisting of three separate files, will take place later this week. However, Tuesday night’s vote is a significant step in finalising the Parliament’s position and its mandate for the next stage of negotiations.
SHARING OPTIONS: