CAP reform row backfires in the North
England has set a transfer rate of 12%; Scotland 9.5%, and Wales 15%. But there will be zero transfer in the North.
Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill had announced that 7% of Northern Ireland’s £300m a year in agricultural subsidies from the EU would be transferred to rural development.
But Finance Minister Simon Hamilton mounted a legal challenge to the plan, and the High Court ruled in his favour.
Meanwhile, under pressure of EU deadlines, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told the European Commission that there will be a zero per cent transfer rate in Northern Ireland.
The development is not un-welcome for farmers, who had pressed for the lowest transfer rate possible, saying measures such as rural development, agri-environment schemes, the Agri-Food Strategy and rural services should be funded by the North’s Executive rather than by the CAP.
Ms O’Neill said the Executive must now make funds available to bridge the deficit. Environmentalists in the north said the funding row was an “embarrassment” and warned that species such as the curlew and lapwing could become extinct in Northern Ireland within a couple of years if the shortfall isn’t made up.
Ms O’Neill’s preferred 7% rate of transfer from Pillar 1 (€1.964 billion from 2014 to 2019) to Pillar 2 (€227 million) would have totalled about €137.5 million.
She said she knew how important the Pillar 1direct payments were, but transferred funding would have allowed her continue to protect the natural environment through a well funded agri-environment scheme, and to support rural businesses and voluntary organisations.
The deadline for declaring rates of transfer between the Pillars of the CAP for the years 2014 to 2019 was Dec 31.
