CAP reform ideas put to commissioner

A payment of €250 per acre for the first 80 acres for active farmers was one of the CAP reform proposals put to the EU’s Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos during his recent visit to Ireland.

It came from a National Farm Family and Milk Rights Group delegation which met Mr Ciolos, when he was invited to Ardee, Co Louth by MEP Mairead McGuinness.

The €250, with a gradual reduction for higher acreage, is necessary for the survival of family farms, said Donie Shine, chairman of the group.

He said it is needed in 2014, because family farmers urgently need help to stay in business.

* CAP reform negotiations are expected to intensify after negotiations on the EU’s overall budget for 2014-2020 are completed in the coming months.

Then the European Commission’s legal CAP reform proposals will be addressed and debated by the European Parliament and the EU Council, with a view to having the new CAP in place from Jan 1, 2014.