Irish Farmers Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman has heaped pressure on Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon to push back against the possibility of the European Commission axing the ringfenced CAP budget in the years ahead.
Minister Heydon was told by the IFA leader that he must lobby his cabinet and fellow EU agriculture ministers to slap down any notions of the EU dropping its dedicated for agriculture.
Last week, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen unexpectedly suggested that he plans to make the draft plans for the next CAP available in mid-July.
This is the same time that his Commission colleagues will publish proposals for the post-2027 multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the EU budget, which usually come ahead of the CAP proposals.
The move has unsettled farming organisations and comes as the future of the CAP budget looks uncertain, prompting the IFA to call a farmer meeting in Naas on Tuesday night to put Minister Heydon on the spot on CAP budget issues. Over 300 farmers attended.
The uncertainty stems from mounting speculation that the Commission could scrap the EU's dedicated CAP budget, wrapping farming and all other funding pots into one single budget that distributes funds to member states to spend on their own priorities.
Knifing CAP
Gorman went as far as stating that Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is “proposing to put a knife through the heart of the CAP”.
“Minister, if this budget structure is approved, it would be the end of CAP as we know it,” Gorman said.
Gorman stated that pushing through an EU budget without dedicated CAP would undermine farm-level funding for schemes, hit the rural economy, shatter young farmer confidence and damage confidence in the EU project as a whole.
IFA president of Francie Gorman addresses Minister Heydon and the 300-plus strong crowd. \ Claire Nash
“The European Commission talks about simplification, risk management and attracting the next generation,” he continued.
“However, this single budget approach to the CAP will be seen as a clear signal that the EU wants to dismantle the CAP and it no longer places a value on farmers and food production.”
The publication of CAP proposals immediately after EU budget plans is “rushed” and “concerning”, according to the IFA president.
“It has always been the case that the budget would be set and then we would have detailed discussions about the shape of the CAP.
“But there has been little or no engagement on what the new CAP proposals could entail. We are still only discovering pitfalls in the current CAP.
“When Commissioner Hansen addressed the IFA AGM in January, he displayed a willingness to listen and respond to what farmers were telling him about how the CAP could work.
“Driving ahead with rushed proposals flies in the face of this commitment and, again Minister, we would ask that this is delivered to the [European] Council of Ministers in the strongest possible way.”
More uncertainty
The Commission has been tight-lipped on what could lie in store for post-2027 farm payments, other than stating that funds should be “more targeted” towards the farmers that “most in need”.
It has indicated that these are small farmers, young farmers, farmers in areas of natural constraints and new entrants to farming.
Brussels suggested that it will pivot away from penalties towards incentives, but has yet to outline how it intends to achieve this.
With the future of a dedicated CAP budget threatened, the Commission’s thinking remains unclear.
Read more
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Commissioner signals need to ‘slow down or reverse’ EU livestock slump
Irish Farmers Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman has heaped pressure on Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon to push back against the possibility of the European Commission axing the ringfenced CAP budget in the years ahead.
Minister Heydon was told by the IFA leader that he must lobby his cabinet and fellow EU agriculture ministers to slap down any notions of the EU dropping its dedicated for agriculture.
Last week, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen unexpectedly suggested that he plans to make the draft plans for the next CAP available in mid-July.
This is the same time that his Commission colleagues will publish proposals for the post-2027 multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the EU budget, which usually come ahead of the CAP proposals.
The move has unsettled farming organisations and comes as the future of the CAP budget looks uncertain, prompting the IFA to call a farmer meeting in Naas on Tuesday night to put Minister Heydon on the spot on CAP budget issues. Over 300 farmers attended.
The uncertainty stems from mounting speculation that the Commission could scrap the EU's dedicated CAP budget, wrapping farming and all other funding pots into one single budget that distributes funds to member states to spend on their own priorities.
Knifing CAP
Gorman went as far as stating that Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is “proposing to put a knife through the heart of the CAP”.
“Minister, if this budget structure is approved, it would be the end of CAP as we know it,” Gorman said.
Gorman stated that pushing through an EU budget without dedicated CAP would undermine farm-level funding for schemes, hit the rural economy, shatter young farmer confidence and damage confidence in the EU project as a whole.
IFA president of Francie Gorman addresses Minister Heydon and the 300-plus strong crowd. \ Claire Nash
“The European Commission talks about simplification, risk management and attracting the next generation,” he continued.
“However, this single budget approach to the CAP will be seen as a clear signal that the EU wants to dismantle the CAP and it no longer places a value on farmers and food production.”
The publication of CAP proposals immediately after EU budget plans is “rushed” and “concerning”, according to the IFA president.
“It has always been the case that the budget would be set and then we would have detailed discussions about the shape of the CAP.
“But there has been little or no engagement on what the new CAP proposals could entail. We are still only discovering pitfalls in the current CAP.
“When Commissioner Hansen addressed the IFA AGM in January, he displayed a willingness to listen and respond to what farmers were telling him about how the CAP could work.
“Driving ahead with rushed proposals flies in the face of this commitment and, again Minister, we would ask that this is delivered to the [European] Council of Ministers in the strongest possible way.”
More uncertainty
The Commission has been tight-lipped on what could lie in store for post-2027 farm payments, other than stating that funds should be “more targeted” towards the farmers that “most in need”.
It has indicated that these are small farmers, young farmers, farmers in areas of natural constraints and new entrants to farming.
Brussels suggested that it will pivot away from penalties towards incentives, but has yet to outline how it intends to achieve this.
With the future of a dedicated CAP budget threatened, the Commission’s thinking remains unclear.
Read more
Major shake-up planned for CAP direct payments
Commissioner signals need to ‘slow down or reverse’ EU livestock slump
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