Irish and French farmers will work together to maintain farm budget

IRISH and French farm leaders have agreed to work closely together to ensure that the European Union farm budget is maintained in its entirety and that the Common Agricultural Policy in the future continues to support agriculture and active European farmers.

IFA president John Bryan and FNSEA leader Jean Michel Le Metayer held “a very positive and constructive meeting” on the future of the CAP at the International Agriculture Show in Paris.

Mr Bryan said the IFA will be working closely with FNSEA to formulate a sustainable CAP post-2013 that protects the critical farm family structure both in Ireland and France. It is vital that the CAP budget and Ireland’s envelope are safeguarded in the upcoming negotiations.

CAP is the most successful European policy that has benefited consumers, farmers and rural Europe, he said.

Mr Bryan said the IFA and FNSEA will continue to stress the importance of the single farm payment to European farmers, rural communities and the overall economy, and to insist on the maintenance of a fully-funded, index-linked budget for Ireland.

Meanwhile, European farm and co-op leaders have stressed the vital contribution the EU agriculture sector makes to building Europe and to maintaining growth and employment in rural areas.

Padraig Walshe, president of COPA, the European farmers union, said the EU agriculture sector accounts for 30 million people, working part-time or full-time on farms.

“Faced with rising world food demand and increased risks to food production from climate change and greater market volatility, it is more important than ever for the EU to maintain agricultural activity.”