"The President [of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker] and I announced that the Commission will publish a communication on the future of the CAP by the end of 2017. And this process will begin shortly with a wide-ranging public consultation," Hogan said in Berlin this Friday.

In a tweet sent overnight, he set the date to kick-start the complex process for 2 February.

"Our aim is to look ways how to modernise and simplify the CAP. I am well aware of the complexity of our policy and I am dedicated to making the CAP simpler, for the benefit of European farmers," Commissioner Hogan added.

The recent Brexit referendum in the UK and increasingly demanding international climate change targets will form the backdrop to upcoming CAP negotiations. The UK's departure will mean less money for the EU's budget. Meanwhile, there is growing pressure to ensure CAP payments are targeted to those farmers who deliver the highest environmental services, with farming organisations warning that going too far in that direction would put large numbers of farmers out of business.

The debate on the shape of the future CAP will be thrown wide open, with Commissioner Hogan himself questioning the current structure between direct payments and rural development programmes last year.

Significantly, Hogan made the announcement at the opening of the International Green Week environmental conference in Germany. In his speech, he struck a balance between the dual objectives of achieving greater environmental protection and sustaining farming communities.

"Citizens and policymakers must accept that maintaining high standards of food quality and safety cannot be married to farmers doing more for the environment, unless we specifically incentivise farmers for doing this work," he said. "Farmers need policy support and the Common Agricultural Policy has bolstered European agriculture for more than 50 years."

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