Coveney to seek EU allies on farm issues

AGRICULTURE Minister Simon Coveney goes to Paris today seeking French support for Ireland’s position on farm subsidies and beef imports — but he is warning the country will not be bullied into compromising on corporation tax.

The country’s food industry is facing huge challenges from EU plans to allow big beef-producing South American Mercusor countries export into the EU and from a campaign to cut the amount of money in the common agriculture policy (CAP).

But he received no good news about the trade talks with the Mercusor countries from the Agriculture Commissioner, Dacian Ciolos when he visited him in Brussels yesterday.

“He shares our concerns — he is anxious that agriculture would not be sacrificed to get other European products into the Mercusor markets.

“There is huge pressure… he talks about the European food industry being sacrificed and he is against that,” said Mr Coveney.

He was attending his first EU agriculture ministers’ meeting.

Mr Coveney, however, fears the agriculture commissioner does not have enough support and said Ireland needs to build allies among other member states’ commissioners and member states themselves.

The other threat comes from plans led by Britain and a number of other non agriculture countries and supported by commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to cut the amount of EU money that goes into agriculture — it accounts for close to half the budget.

The review of the CAP coincides with negotiations on countries’ contribution to the EU, and Mr Coveney said this was complicating the issue. He believed, however, that given recent developments on the world food market, there was a greater awareness of the need for Europe to have greater food security.

His meeting today with the French Agriculture Minister would be very important as traditionally they shared Ireland’s position in relation to the CAP. “We have a different opinion on corporate tax rate and the base, and I will outline Ireland’s position in very clear terms,” said Mr Coveney.

“Ireland is in a weak position and vulnerable because of our economic difficulties but we will not allow ourselves to be bullied into submission on the corporation tax issue — and I will insist on that,” he said.

Commissioner Ciolos, meanwhile, had bad news for the minister on milk production also. Ireland intends to increase the amount of milk it produces and exports mainly as milk powder by 50% by 2020. But the quota system that limits the amount of milk a country can produce will not be abolished until 2015.

Mr Coveney hoped to convince the commissioner to gradually phase out the quota to allow Irish farmers to gradually increase their milk production.

“We didn’t make up much ground with the commissioner on this but it is not something we are going to give up on,” he insisted.