Unclear messages on Irish CAP vision

Since my criticism of Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney here last week, for what I perceive to be a lack of vision in relation to Ireland’s objectives in the CAP reform, I’ve had a number of interesting — but at times not very satisfying — conversations on the subject.

The most troubling was a phone conversation I had with an MEP who didn’t want to be quoted. I did, however, get a lecture on “the need for Ireland to operate within the system as devised by Europe”.

When I said Ireland didn’t appear to have a clear position on what we should be looking for, I was told that both the minister and his officials were “working to get the best deal possible”.