I welcome the opportunity to address the committee on the six-monthly report of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on developments in the EU for the period January to June 2010 under the Spanish Presidency. As members are aware, the Department is very active in the EU arena as both agriculture and fisheries are governed by common EU policies - agriculture through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and fisheries through the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The EU also plays a key role in other areas, including food and feed safety, animal health and welfare, international trade, forestry and plant health.
The Department submitted 77 information notes to the Oireachtas in 2009 for its consideration. This number was down considerably in the first half of 2010, the period covered by the report, when only 20 information notes were submitted. This was due to the Commission commencing its new term during the period covered by the report and, as it alone has the right of initiative, only a small number of proposals were presented. The European Parliament also commenced its term of office in early 2010 and there was not much time to progress proposals.
Notwithstanding the reduced number of Commission proposals, the theme of the Spanish Presidency was "Agriculture and Food, a Strategic Sector for Europe" and the Presidency pursued its theme to good effect. It held debates on the international competitiveness of the EU agrifood model and on the Commission communication on the better functioning of the food supply chain in Europe. Following these discussions, the Commission established a high level forum for the better functioning of the food supply chain to be assisted by a "sherpa" group. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Smith, is a member of the forum, which will examine the challenges facing the agrifood sector such as the volatility of prices and hikes in production costs. The forum commenced work at its first meeting in November.
In tandem with this, a Commission-led high level group on milk examined the medium and long-term challenges the industry will face in the aftermath of the abolition of milk quotas which will take place in 2015. In June of last year the group produced a report which was accompanied by seven recommendations. Some of these recommendations, which are concerned with contractual relations, transparency along the food supply chain and producer and inter-professional organisations, were subsequently addressed in a proposal from the Commission in December. However, this proposal will have very little impact in Ireland where the processing structure is based on co-operatives.
The Spanish Presidency was the first to operate fully under the Treaty of Lisbon which entered into force on 1 December 2009. The Presidency therefore focused considerable effort on the implementation of the treaty. The treaty introduces significant changes in legislative procedures in the area of agriculture and fisheries. The European Parliament now has full co-decision powers with the Council on most legislative matters in these areas. This has an impact on how the Department conducts its business. In response, the Department has enhanced its engagement with Irish and other MEPs.
We have held a number of well-attended and well-received briefing sessions with the MEPs in Brussels and I have bestowed upon an officer from our representation in Brussels particular responsibility for liaising with MEPs on agriculture legislation. I am aware that the committee and both Houses have also received additional powers under the treaty following the introduction of the subsidiarity check provisions. I note this House has been active in this area and has already submitted papers to the Commission on pertinent issues and most recently has produced a report on the future of the CAP. This is a welcome development.
In EU terms, Ireland is are a small country and has only seven votes. However, the agriculture and fisheries industries are vital to our economy and we must, therefore, build alliances and use every avenue to put forward a coherent and robust Irish position. I am aware that officials from the Department have already briefed the committee on several occasions on EU matters. The Department is available at any time to provide whatever support is required in the future.
Despite the lack of new proposals, the Presidency concluded 15 proposals and progressed many others. I am aware that members have received copies of this report and, therefore, I do not propose to go into detail on all of the proposals. I will instead focus on the two major EU common policies - those relating to agriculture and fisheries - which come under the remit of the Department. Both of these common policies are undergoing review at present.
The debate on the CFP commenced in April 2009, when the Commission published its Green Paper, thereby launching a process of consultation with member states and stakeholders and a broad public debate on the future fisheries reform. The Department conducted its own consultation process with stakeholders, which was co-ordinated by Dr. Noel Cawley. The then Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, Deputy Killeen, addressed a joint meeting of this committee and the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in November 2009. On the basis of all consultations, a comprehensive report was drafted and submitted to the Commission in early 2010. The review was discussed at various EU meetings during the first part of 2010 including at Council, where the Ministers debated the options for change. These included a "no policy change" scenario.
The European Commission held a major conference on fisheries reform last November and is expected to bring forward its proposals for amending CFP rules in June 2011, with a view to these entering into force in 2012. The Department intends to continue its close collaboration with the Federation of Irish Fishermen and the other stakeholders for the duration of the reform process in order to put Ireland's case forward and convince other member states and the Commission to strengthen the current policy in line with Ireland's submission on the reform of the CFP.
The CAP, the other EU common policy under the remit of the Department, is also undergoing review. The current system of direct payments and rural development funding will run until 2013 and will continue to be funded under the current financial framework. However, discussions have been ongoing for a number of Presidencies on what shape the CAP might take after 2013. The Spanish Presidency focused on market management measures and adopted conclusions which attracted the support of the majority of the Council in March. The conclusions noted the need to retain an effective safety net for producers, to examine other market measures and to explore the benefits of risk management measures, such as insurance schemes and mutual funds.
The discussions on the future of the CAP were also mirrored in Ireland. The Minister, Deputy Smith, established a consultative committee and this has been actively engaging with stakeholders. At the invitation of the Minister, Commissioner Ciolos visited Ireland in October and addressed a stakeholders' conference. He also addressed the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at that time and the unity of purpose among Deputies and Senators regarding our ambitions and objectives for the CAP was very notable. That unity of purpose will prove extremely useful as the negotiations on reform of the CAP progress.
Last November, the Commission presented its communication on the future of the CAP which is entitled "The CAP towards 2020". The communication will be discussed in Council and by the European Parliament in the early part of this year. The Hungarian Presidency is planning to reach Council conclusions on this communication in March. Legislative proposals will be presented in summer 2011 with a view to reaching agreement between the European Parliament and the Council in 2012, although there is a possibility that negotiations may run on into the Irish Presidency in the first half of 2013.
The Commission has launched a public consultation process regarding an impact assessment of proposals contained in "The CAP towards 2020" and the results of this process will feed into the final texts. We have urged Irish stakeholders to submit their comments by the deadline of 25 January next. This point was reiterated by a senior Commission official when he addressed the consultative committee in November. In the interim, the Department will be feeding into the debates at Council and in the European Parliament.
The Department has been focusing on how the agrifood sector can contribute to Ireland's economic recovery. In collaboration with the Irish agrifood sector, we published the Food Harvest 2020 report. The latter sets out an ambitious but realistic strategy for smart, green growth in the sector over the next ten years.
Ireland's view is that the agriculture and food production sector is hugely important in the context of Europe's and Ireland's economic and industrial recovery. It contributes to all three priorities of the EU 2020 strategy, namely, smart, green and inclusive growth. Its importance has been acknowledged in the conclusions reached by the Heads of State and Government at the spring European Council last year and in the recently released EU budget review document produced by the Commission. For Ireland, the future CAP will determine the policy framework for the successful delivery of our Food Harvest 2020 strategy. It will be of vital importance to ensure that it underpins the strategy. In the circumstances, the Department's priority is to ensure the proposed reform of the CAP results in a strong and properly resourced policy in the years ahead. There is good support for this position among other Agriculture Ministers in the EU Council. The Minister has made clear that it is in Ireland's interest to have the current two pillar structure continued with a primary focus of pillar 1 on the support of farm income and the main focus of pillar 2 on the development of agriculture in rural areas. There has been a high level of activity and debate regarding the future CAP among member states over the past two years. The Minister and the Department have participated actively in these discussions with a view to building up alliances at both ministerial and official level and pressing the Irish viewpoint at formal and informal meetings of EU Agriculture Ministers and at bilateral meetings with the Commissioner and with Ministers and officials from a number of other member states. These contacts, which are essential in a negotiating process are proving productive in deepening our understanding of each other's positions and in establishing support for the Irish position in the negotiations.
The debate on the future of the CAP is heavily influenced by the parallel discussions on the next EU multi-annual financial framework 2014 to 2020, which have just commenced with the publication of the Commission's communication on the EU budget review. Negotiations in this area are headed by the Department of Finance and we are liaising closely with them in this regard. The Department has recently submitted an information note to the Joint Committee on Agriculture on the agriculture aspects of the EU budget review. Legislative proposals are expected in the middle of the year.
This represents a snapshot of the main EU related developments in the first six months of last year, together with a look forward at some of the main policy issues for the Department in future months and years. I will be happy to answer additional questions from committee members.