EU decision to maintain expenditure on CAP ‘a good result for farmers’

THE European Commission’s decision to maintain overall expenditure on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a good result for Irish farmers, according to economist Professor Alan Matthews.

The Trinity College professor told 250 delegates attending yesterday’s National Rural Development Conference in Athlone that the proposal to reduce the level of Single Farm Payment to Irish farmers by less than 2% in the period 2014-2020 is a satisfactory result, given the political imperative to redistribute funds to the new member states.

He also told the National Rural Network and Teagasc-hosted conference that Ireland was unlikely to maintain its high level of funds for rural development programmes, as the EU plans to give a greater share to weaker member states.