
The IFA has published its initial position on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which was agreed at its National Council earlier this month.
This comes in advance of the EU Commission proposals for the Multi-Annnual Financial Framework (MFF) and new CAP proposals, expected from July 16th.
“While these are only EU Commission proposals that will still need to be considered by the Member States and the EU Parliament, they will be significant in setting the framework for the negotiations,” he said.
IFA President Francie Gorman was in Luxembourg yesterday at the Council of Ministers’ meeting, where he met agricultural committees from several Member States and the EU Commissioner Christophe Hansen to stress the importance of a strong dedicated CAP budget.
“The next MFF and CAP proposals are expected in mid-July, and all the talk has been of budgetary challenges and the prospect of the Commission reallocating funding into a Single Fund in the next MFF to minimise budgetary pressures; programmes and prioritise local level priorities.”
“The Single Fund proposal, which will need unanimous Head of State approval to progress, would put a knife through the heart of the CAP as we know it,” he said.
“In reality, many more farms and indeed rural areas would be gone but for CAP and the support it provides. The next MFF needs to reflect that, and cannot create more unviable farmers or rural areas,” he said.
“Farmers cannot pay the price for these new EU budgetary demands,” Francie Gorman said.
“Farmers that produce, food, work the land, tend to livestock, that sow and harvest the crops while maintaining and enhancing our environment are the farmers that need support,” he said.
“Europe needs a more substantial, simpler and dedicated (inflation-adjusted) CAP budget to ensure competitiveness, potential for the next generation, and guarantee a decent income for the genuine active farmers of today,” Francie Gorman said.
The traditional two-pillar (EAGF & EAFRD) funding model should be retained, with targeted income support & eco-scheme payments provided to genuine active farmers through Pillar 1, supplemented by additional dedicated sector-specific supports for vulnerable sectors; rural development and agri-environment supports through Pillar 2.
IFA has prepared an initial ‘Principles of CAP post-2027’ document and will be updating and reviewing as greater detail unfolds,” he said.
“We are entering unchartered territory, and MFF/CAP negotiations the like of which never seen before,” Francie Gorman concluded.
See IFA’s Principles of CAP Post-2027 Document Here.