Busy St Patrick’s Day ahead for Coveney as he heads to Brussels

PROTECTING the Irish agri-food sector against the threat of a Mercosur deal is top of the agenda for Agriculture, Marine and Food Minister Simon Coveney as he attends his first EU Agriculture Ministers meeting in Brussels today.

Aptly enough, the St Patrick’s Day summit has an agenda packed with subjects of interest to Irish farmers.

The ministers are due to examine draft council conclusions on the communication from the commission on the future of the CAP after 2013, the Mercosur trade negotiations, the approval of three GMO applications and the market situation for the dairy sector.