Minister launches public consultation process on CAP
He said yesterday it is necessity for the deliberations to commence sooner rather than later. Funding arrangements for the CAP are fixed until 2013 under the current EU financial perspective.
Mr Smith said there is a review in train of all aspects of the EU budget. It will be followed by negotiations to determine the composition of the next financial perspective of the EU from 2014 to 2020. This will include the funding available for agriculture and rural development. Parallel with this process, the 27 member states and the European Commission are in the early stages of considering the shape and content of the Common Agricultural Policy for the period after 2013.
