Ireland was among 23 member states to adopt conclusions on the European Commission’s communication on “The Future of Food and Farming” on Monday.
The conclusions call for:
The Common Agricultural Policy's added value in delivering on new challenges to be enhanced.
Member states to be empowered to take decisions fitting local needs and specificities. The resilience of the agricultural sector to be strengthened.CAP's contribution to environmental objectives to be fostered. Quality of life in rural areas to be improved. Ireland was represented at Monday’s council of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels by Minister of State Andrew Doyle.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “The presidency has made a real effort to accommodate the concerns of member states. I recognise that the new CAP must deliver greater added value, including by making the policy greener and more results-driven. Of course, we will need a strong budget to deliver on these objectives.”
Minister Doyle urged his European colleagues to work hard together to ensure the new model delivers real simplification for farmers and administrators.
Inspections
He stressed that greening and cross-compliance requirements must be streamlined and inspections should focus to a greater extent on the rectification of unintentional errors, rather than on punishment.
“The focus on outputs, rather than compliance, should be applied in a practical way,” he said.
“If this is done, it must result in reductions in error rates for farmers and member states that can lead to disallowances and bring the policy into disrepute among stakeholders and citizens.”
Direct payments
Minister Doyle outlined his strong support for the efforts being made to better target direct payment, welcoming the intention to give member states some discretion in this.
On the crisis reserve fund, he suggested that some flexibility could be given at member state level to use the reserve to deal with exceptional events.
Environment
The conclusions refer to the higher level of environmental ambition for the next CAP.
Minister Doyle said farmers must be adequately remunerated to incentivise the delivery of public goods.
“The current focus on costs incurred and income foregone adds complexity to scheme design and approval and fails to fully acknowledge the real value of environmental measures.”
He also said that generational renewal is a critical priority for the agriculture sector and that flexibility is needed at EU and national level to develop incentives to energise young farmers.
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Ireland was among 23 member states to adopt conclusions on the European Commission’s communication on “The Future of Food and Farming” on Monday.
The conclusions call for:
The Common Agricultural Policy's added value in delivering on new challenges to be enhanced. Member states to be empowered to take decisions fitting local needs and specificities. The resilience of the agricultural sector to be strengthened.CAP's contribution to environmental objectives to be fostered. Quality of life in rural areas to be improved. Ireland was represented at Monday’s council of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels by Minister of State Andrew Doyle.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “The presidency has made a real effort to accommodate the concerns of member states. I recognise that the new CAP must deliver greater added value, including by making the policy greener and more results-driven. Of course, we will need a strong budget to deliver on these objectives.”
Minister Doyle urged his European colleagues to work hard together to ensure the new model delivers real simplification for farmers and administrators.
Inspections
He stressed that greening and cross-compliance requirements must be streamlined and inspections should focus to a greater extent on the rectification of unintentional errors, rather than on punishment.
“The focus on outputs, rather than compliance, should be applied in a practical way,” he said.
“If this is done, it must result in reductions in error rates for farmers and member states that can lead to disallowances and bring the policy into disrepute among stakeholders and citizens.”
Direct payments
Minister Doyle outlined his strong support for the efforts being made to better target direct payment, welcoming the intention to give member states some discretion in this.
On the crisis reserve fund, he suggested that some flexibility could be given at member state level to use the reserve to deal with exceptional events.
Environment
The conclusions refer to the higher level of environmental ambition for the next CAP.
Minister Doyle said farmers must be adequately remunerated to incentivise the delivery of public goods.
“The current focus on costs incurred and income foregone adds complexity to scheme design and approval and fails to fully acknowledge the real value of environmental measures.”
He also said that generational renewal is a critical priority for the agriculture sector and that flexibility is needed at EU and national level to develop incentives to energise young farmers.
Read more
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Brexit: transition period agreed but Irish border to be clarified
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