Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 March 2017
447. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an overview of the concrete proposals discussed at the first exchange of views on the future design of the Common Agricultural Policy at the March 2017 EU Agriculture Ministers meeting. [14910/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe discussion on the future design of the CAP at the March Council of Agriculture Ministers meeting took place at an opportune time given the range of CAP-related discussions my European colleagues and I have had over recent months and in the light of the Commission’s recent launch of its public consultation process on the modernisation and simplification of the policy.
The future of the CAP is an issue of enormous importance for Ireland and indeed the European agriculture sector. The CAP has demonstrated its capacity to evolve very effectively in response to changing market, consumer and environmental demands in recent years, to the point where it now plays a central role in delivering the smart, sustainable and inclusive growth sought under the Europe 2020 strategy. It is vitally important for the CAP to continue its market orientation and to evolve in a way that supports the achievement of European strategic objectives.
The Maltese Presidency identified six priorities, which emerged from previous discussions, and which informed our discussion at March Council. The priorities are – building resilience, responding to environmental challenges, investing in rural viability and vitality, ensuring generational renewal, maintaining a market orientation and strengthening farmers’ position while simplification remains an over-arching principle for the future CAP.
These priorities are largely consistent with what I and my Department view as the key challenges ahead. In my view the over-riding priority must be to support the sustainable intensification of food production to meet the requirements of a growing population while simultaneously meeting our environmental and climate change obligations. I believe this can be done by sharpening the focus on outcomes and by reducing the regulatory and audit burdens on Member States and farmers, as they implement measures to achieve these outcomes. Innovation and the application of new technologies will play a critical role in this effort.
The recent market difficulties experienced by farmers, demonstrated the need to build farmers resilience in the face of market volatility. Modern and innovative measures to counteract these difficulties such as hedging arrangements, futures markets and fixed price contracts are areas worth considering and developing. The direct payments system provides stability and certainty to farmers in the face of market volatility and should continue to be a key component of the future CAP.
I am very supportive of efforts to encourage generational renewal as we have an ageing farmer population not unlike other Member States and the need to adopt new and innovative technologies as well as more sustainable methods of production will be paramount in the future.
In terms of addressing these priorities, I think a more holistic approach is needed. For example, in the case of sustainable intensification, Member States need to be able to identify objectives – such as the production of more food in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable way – and then be allowed to implement measures which will enable them to achieve those objectives.
As regards CAP simplification, this remains an ongoing priority for us, given its capacity to reduce the administrative burden on farmers and national administrations. We are continuing to monitor the effectiveness of simplification and would like to see it go further, particularly in respect of the removal of guidelines and interpretations of regulations that have the effect of increasing the administrative burden.
