CAP 'is collapsing under contradictions', says ICMSA
ICMSA calls the post-2027 CAP a 'pale shadow' of previous landmark programmes.
The European Commission was warned the post-2027 CAP was “collapsing under its own contradictions” by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA).
Speaking following a meeting with executive vice-president of the EU Commission for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto, ICMSA president Denis Drennan said the CAP being put forward for introduction post 2027 was a “pale shadow” of the effective landmark programmes of the past.
Mr Drennan added the commission’s systematic downgrading of primary food production and food security was shortsighted in the extreme and bound to have serious repercussions for the whole EU.
“We keep being told that the commission is really serious about ensuring a sustainable future for EU agriculture, but the budget they are talking about just contradicts their own statements. We have a substantially reduced budget being put forward by the EU Commission when even the present budget has been demonstrably inadequate to the demands made upon it,” said Mr Drennan.
“We have no sign whatsoever that the emphasis is going to shift to supporting active farmers producing food and away from the present dizzyingly complex schemes that prioritise different types of land stewardship and treat farming and food production as an ‘optional extra’.”
Mr Drennan said that was most frustrating was there were several areas within the commission’s scope where very little action was required to make a huge positive difference to farmers’ working lives, and he cited the area of EU Directives as a perfect example.
“We specified the need for reform of key environmental directives; we have directives in place for over 35 years that simply do not reflect the realities of today and are unfairly penalising farmers,” he said.
“Farmers have no issue meeting their commitments, but we must be allowed to deliver them in a fair, reasonable and practical manner, and these outdated directives — or unreasonable ones like Habitat’s Directive — are making a hard and challenging job of farming just impossible”, Mr Drennan said.
