Mr. Paul Savage:

It is a challenging timetable which we have ahead of us. As I mentioned earlier, the Commission’s original attention was, essentially, to have the positions of the Parliament and Council agreed before the middle of this year and have trilogues commenced in order that we would be able to launch CAP strategic plans by 1 January next year. Then the Commission would have assessed those in time for September of next year in order that the programme could start in January 2021.

Obviously, that timetable has slipped somewhat in terms of progress in the negotiations to date. There is still much work to do over the next six months. The doubt over the timing on the MFF is causing a further unpredictability, as well as the Parliament’s position being unclear. The Parliament indicated today that several options were being considered. It could refer its position back to COMAGRI and start from scratch. It could give COMAGRI the option to add further amendments to the position which the Parliament established several months ago. Alternatively, it could go back to the start.

With all of those uncertainties in the pot, it looks like a challenge to stick to the original timetable. There has not been any formal addressing of the issue from the point of view of the Commission in terms of any extension or otherwise. All we can do ourselves is engage in the process as best we can, move it on as quickly as we can and respond to developments as they arise.