Irish did well to broker deal

With everyone in the EU farm and food industry wishing for their own personal version of CAP reform, Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney and his officials did very well to broker agreement on the negotiating position which he will take forward into the next phase of talks, on behalf of the EU’s 27 agriculture ministers.

Apparently he started off with a three-hour session where every farm minister listed their concerns, and he made it clear they were not going to get everything they wanted.

He urged ministers to highlight no more than top three priorities each.