Coveney says CAP is tight but “doable”

The timeline for Europe to agree upon and introduce new CAP measures by January 2014 is tight, but not impossible, according to Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney.

In response to Dáil questioning by Fianna Fáil deputy Michael Moynihan, the Minister said he does not believe that the multi-annual financial framework (MFF) — Europe’s overall financial budget, of which agriculture is the largest single recipient — will be agreed on schedule for December 1, 2012.

Nonetheless, he said that the MFF can be finalised by February or March 2013, coinciding with Ireland’s six-month presidency of the EU’s agriculture commission. Mr Coveney says the timeline is tight, but “doable”, for a CAP to be agreed upon by June 2013 and implemented before January 1, 2014.