Mr. Philip O'Donnell:

Yes, we are deeply concerned and it is something we have been keeping a very close eye on. We have been trying to be as active as we can in that conversation in the last couple of months. We had been advocating for the retention of CAP Pillar 2 and for LEADER to be placed therein. LEADER has a very natural home in CAP Pillar 2 which is focused on rural development. We certainly have a concern that if LEADER was to exist elsewhere, it would be competing for resources and visibility with other types of funds. It also has some very specific protections within CAP Pillar 2. For example, a minimum of 5% of the overall CAP Pillar 2 envelope, which is funded through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, is allocated to LEADER.

There would be a real concern, given long-term budgetary trends, around LEADER that this may be eroded going forward. Our position on it for the moment is that, in the first instance, we are waiting to see exactly what the proposals will look like, although reports this morning give us a pretty good sense of that. These are proposals at the moment and proposals only. There will be an important role for the Council, the member states, the Ministers and also for the Members of the European Parliament to have their say in these conversations. We are reassured by the perspectives we have heard across both of those European structures during the past couple of months as regards the retention of CAP pillars 1 and 2 and we will support them in their work in advocating for that.