Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2018
78. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the outcome of recent discussions at the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers on CAP reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7112/18]
View answerAt the most recent EU Council of Agriculture Ministers in January, Ministers were given the opportunity to debate the future of the CAP post 2020.
Discussions focussed on the key objectives to be set at EU level to ensure that the CAP continues to add value after 2020, and the level of subsidiarity necessary to provide increased flexibility for Member States while maintaining the common character of the CAP, and the role of National strategic plans in this regard.
In general Ministers recognised the CAP's contribution to the production of high quality food, its support for 44 million jobs across the EU, for the maintenance of landscapes and environmental improvement, and the development of rural communities across the EU, already provides significant added value. Ministers also recognised, however, that the CAP post 2020 should add further value by contributing towards the EU’s environmental challenges and climate change objectives. This can only be achieved by securing an adequate budget for the CAP post 2020 and by placing farmers at the centre of the future CAP policy.
On the question of subsidiarity, Ministers generally agreed that the high level objectives for a new CAP should be set at EU level, and that within those parameters Member States could determine the appropriate measures to be introduced which best suit their own national circumstances. While member states were broadly supportive of the Commission's proposals on subsidiarity, there was a broad consensus that member state discretion should not be set at a level that undermined the common policy.
Discussions on the CAP post 2020 will intensify further in the coming months, with the Bulgarian Presidency scheduling CAP related discussions at every Council of Agriculture Ministers meetings during its Presidency. The upcoming February Council of Agriculture Ministers will include an exchange of views on the Commission Communication on the future of CAP, focusing on direct support, environmental aspects and rural development.
I look forward to continuing to engage constructively on CAP post 2020 with Commissioner Hogan, his officials, the Bulgarian Presidency and my Ministerial colleagues from other Member States.
