Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 November 2009
44 Deputy Noel Treacy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his views in relation to the need for an adequately funded Common Agricultural Policy post 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43448/09]
Amharc ar fhreagra50 Deputy Noel Treacy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the issues which have emerged in initial discussions between EU member states in relation to the future of the Common Agricultural Policy post 2013. [43449/09]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 50 together.
My overarching view is that we need a strong and adequately resourced CAP after 2013. This is a point I have pressed strongly in discussions to date and for which there is good support in the Agriculture Council.
I am very conscious of the importance of the EU ensuring security of food supply and recognising the need to maintain family farming in Europe. However, particularly as an exporting country, I am also conscious of the need for competitiveness and innovation. I would wish to see all of these objectives clearly reflected in the new CAP.
Policy analysis and debates have commenced in a number of Member States and at EU level on the broad outline and general principles of future EU agriculture policy and a number of common themes and key issues are emerging from these debates. The emerging issues and my views on them are as follows.
There are demands from some Member States for a lower budget share for agriculture and for eventual dismantling of CAP. I would reject such arguments.
There is a parallel debate as to the function of the CAP in the future, i.e. whether it should act as a guarantor of income supports and EU family farming thereby contributing to food security objectives or whether it should serve primarily as a supplier of environmental and other public goods. It is clear from this debate that there will be increased emphasis on the delivery of public goods, as well as an increased focus on measurable outcomes. Within this, there will be continued emphasis on "new challenges" identified in the Health Check. There are positives for Ireland in this, and we need to engage with and shape this agenda to our own requirements.
There are issues around the current differentiation of direct payment rates between and within Member States. The credibility of the current historic payment model — based on average payments received between 2000 and 2002 — is being questioned. The debate centres around whether to equalise payment rates between Member States or whether to differentiate according to historical uptake, land use, land quality, production costs and so on. I continue to see some advantages to the historic model, but will have to look at alternatives, particularly if other countries move from the "historic camp". Some useful research has already been done on other payment systems but this work will need to be extended and intensified with greater stakeholder involvement.
Allied to this is the pressure for redistribution of funds by the new Member States, who claim that their share of direct payment funds is insufficient. We will need to be realistic about this. We will need to build alliances with the new Member States, many of whom are strong defenders of the CAP. We will be open-minded on this and look at all options, while also requiring our partners in Europe to be equally realistic in their expectations.
On rural development, one issue is whether this policy should be integrated into cohesion policy or remain as a pillar of the CAP. My own view is that the current association of rural development and agriculture policies has worked well and should continue.
A leaked draft of a Commission communication on the future budget has suggested the possibility of national co-financing of the CAP. Although this draft has been discredited by Commissioner Fischer Boel, the concept cannot be ruled out. I would be very concerned with any attempts to increase national co-financing of the CAP. In current circumstances, this would obviously be unaffordable for Ireland, and also for many other Member States. More fundamentally, it would arguably represent re-nationalisation of the only real common policy of the EU.
It is early days in the negotiations. In the upcoming discussions, we will robustly defend the principles of the CAP and seek to secure sufficient resources to preserve the principles of solidarity, support for primary production, food security, quality and food safety.
