IFA president meets head of EU Agriculture Council, Maria do Céu Antunes
IFA president Tim Cullinan met with President of the EU Council, Maria do Céu Antunes in Brussels where he discussed CAP. Picture: IFA.
IFA President, Tim Cullinan met with the President of the EU Council, Maria do Céu Antunes this morning in Brussels ahead of the EU Agriculture Council of Ministers meeting where CAP negotiations will take place.
Ireland will be represented at the Council of Agriculture meeting by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue.
Mr Cullinan, who was acting in his capacity of First Vice President of the European umbrella farm organisation COPA, highlighted how eco schemes in CAP have the potential to “impact severely on farm incomes”.
“It is vital that Minister McConalogue stands up for Irish farmers and is prepared to hold out for a better deal,” he added.
“There’s another month left in the Portuguese Presidency and no deal is better than a bad deal.
“If the EU is serious about more environmental ambition, it should put up more funding instead of taking 20% to 30% of every farmer’s existing Basic Payment.
“We have no option other than to keep these so-called eco schemes to a minimum as it is clear that they will cost farmers money and compound the impact of convergence on farmers with higher per hectare payments.
“It’s very important that countries which have committed a lot of their Pillar II payments to environmental initiatives, including Ireland, are given credit for this when it comes to finalising their eco scheme percentage.”
The IFA president went on to say that discussions in Brussels over the coming days around CAP, signalled a “hugely important week for Irish agriculture”.
“This is a hugely important week for Irish agriculture as the outcome of CAP reform will decide the future viability of thousands of farmers,” Mr Cullinan continued.
“At present, only one-third of farmers in Ireland are classed as viable.
“This redistributive effect of this reform is likely to reduce the number of viable farmers and this is counter to all logic.”
