Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

Ourselves, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Finland. Since that time, we understand 18 Agriculture Ministers have signed up to the principle that the budget for the CAP should be restored. At the previous committee meeting on this, we had a discussion about the statement from the French President, Mr. Macron, on the future of CAP and dispensing with the old taboos and there was concern about the implications that might have for the budget. Since then, France has unequivocally come out and said it supports a strong CAP budget.

On the other hand, at least three member states have publicly stated they are not putting another cent into the budget, namely, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark. The Germans are a bit on the fence on this issue.

From our perspective, the Taoiseach said that Ireland is prepared to put a greater proportion of GNI into the budget, but only if it contributes to measures that are of core importance to the European Union. He has specifically name-checked the CAP as one of those possibilities. We could agree to put more into the budget with no guarantee that it would be put into matters of interest to us. Our position is unequivocal. We have a strong group of member states which are in the same position from the point of view of the CAP. The budget, however, is decided unanimously.