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After meeting the French and German agriculture ministers this week, Minister Creed said that they had "a shared concern about the adequacy of the CAP budget".
The European Commission proposed a 5% cut to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in its budget plans for the period 2021-2027. Meanwhile, Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan has outlined his plans to reform CAP for the same period – but Minister Creed pointed out that Commissioner Hogan's plans are "predicated on a no budgetary change position" and don't account for the proposed 5% budget cut.
A number of member states have clearly said no
With Brexit and new security and migration policies weighing on the EU budget, the only way to maintain farm payments would be for member states to increase their contributions, and Minister Creed said that 21 of 27 shared this position with Ireland.
"But be also conscious that a number of members states have clearly said no, they won't, and a number have been quite critical of CAP because they think the cuts don't go far enough. We're obviously on the other side of that debate," he said.
How much ground we can make up remains to be seen
The Commission will examine the CAP budget after 2020 in greater detail later this month. The European Parliament and the 27 remaining EU member states must then agree on the EU's overall multi-annual financial framework in the next two years.
"We're at the very beginning of the process," said Minister Creed. "I would be confident that the final outcome will not be as reflected in the opening position of the Commission, but how much ground we can make up remains to be seen."
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