Single farm payment cut still on table

The proposal by the EU Commission that a cut of 4% in each farmer’s single farm payment should be imposed from 2007 as a means of alleviating the crisis in the EU budget negotiations is still not off the table, according to Fine Gael agriculture spokesperson Denis Naughten.

Mr Naughten asked Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern in the Dáil if the British Presidency, which begins next month, could resurrect it later this year.

He said the minister’s response was it is a matter for the Commission.