Mr. Paul Savage:

I thank the Chairman and committee members for giving me the opportunity to join them today to discuss the EU proposals on, first, geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, and quality schemes for agricultural products; second, a specific measure to provide exceptional temporary support under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, EAFRD, in response to the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; third, conversion of the farm accountancy data network into a farm sustainability data network; and, finally, the sustainable use of plant protection products. I will provide a brief overview of each of the four proposals and an update on their current status. My colleagues and I will be happy to discuss these further as required.

On geographical indications, GIs, the proposal for a new regulation seeks to address a number of objectives. These are to ensure the effective protection of intellectual property rights in the European Union, including through efficient registration processes, in order to fairly reward producers for their efforts; to increase the uptake of GIs in order to benefit the EU rural economy; to simplify administration of GIs by providing for a single set of procedural and control rules for all sectors, namely, wines, spirit drinks and agricultural products, each of which is currently governed by separate and distinct sets of regulations; and, finally, to review arrangements for traditional specialities guaranteed, TSGs. Ireland does not currently hold registrations for any TSGs.

The proposal was adopted by the European Commission on 31 March 2022 following ex postevaluations, stakeholder consultations and impact assessments by the Commission. Several member states have objected to certain aspects of the regulation and discussions on the proposal are ongoing. It is unlikely that the proposal will be finalised by the end of 2022. While Ireland welcomes the objectives of the proposal, we have concerns about certain legal provisions not already included in the existing GI rules. These concerns centre around the sustainability provisions, the outsourcing of the scrutiny of GI applications to the European Union Intellectual Property Office, EUIPO, and the proposal that GIs would no longer be referred to as quality schemes.

In addition, we have concerns regarding some of the definitions presented, including those relating to "production step", "Producer Group" and "Producer". In addition, certain elements require further clarification, including the controls and verifications and the designations, roles and powers contained in the new provisions for recognising producer groups. The Department has engaged with Drinks Ireland on the proposed regulation.

As regards the European agricultural fund for rural development, the rural development regulation proposal allows member states to reprogramme their existing rural development programme, RDP, funding allocations to support farmers dealing with the impacts of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. While there is no increase in the allocation of funding, member states can choose to redirect money from their existing supports for farmers into new measures. Although Ireland welcomed the proposal as it provides flexibility for member states, we will not avail of it. Our RDP has been performing successfully, with significant spending taking place on a range of important programmes such as the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, and areas of natural constraint. Providing funding under this facility would require us to reduce funding for GLAS, the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, and some other RDP schemes. Given this high level of spending, we will instead provide additional national funding through schemes to directly address the impact of the Ukrainian invasion on farmers, including the fodder support scheme, which is expected to pay out approximately €54 million in 2022. A new fodder support scheme for 2023, similar to the scheme operating this year, has recently been opened for applications. The budget for the scheme is €30 million and the aim is to provide support up to a maximum of 10 ha per eligible applicant. There is also the tillage incentive scheme, which aims to support tillage farmers to maintain their current area under tillage production by helping to mitigate the high level of risk in production that is forecast for 2023. This scheme is expected to pay out €10 million in 2022.

The farm accountancy data network, FADN, is a source of harmonised economic and accountancy farm-level data in the EU. Drawing on data from more than 80,000 farms, it allows the economic and financial situations of farms across the EU to be assessed. The proposal to convert the FADN into a farm sustainability data network, FSDN, which was adopted by the Commission on 2 June, will add sustainability data on environmental and social matters to its economic scope. This reflects the more recent environmental and social evolution of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. The main objectives of the conversion of FADN to FSDN are: to improve its role as a source of harmonised economic and accountancy farm-level data in the EU, including through income-related indicators in the future CAP; to reinforce the relevance of FADN and FSDN for policymaking, research, evaluation and policy analysis; to add variables related to environmental and social dimensions; to simplify existing data collection, and introduce innovative systems and practices; and to improve the sustainability performance of farmers' enterprises. Ireland has welcomed the proposal, which will support our efforts under Food Vision 2030 to achieve greater economic, environmental and social sustainability for the agrifood sector.

Teagasc, in its role as Ireland’s liaison agency, collects the FADN data, which is published annually in the Teagasc national farm survey. The survey currently presents mainly economic information. This, among other things, assists in determining the impact of measures deployed under the CAP. It is worth noting that Ireland is among the more advanced member states in its collection and use of these data. Teagasc already collects sustainability data, including some of the extra data that will be required under the new FSDN. It also produces an annual sustainability report to supplement the main national farm survey. The new data and variables to be included in the future FSDN will be set out in secondary legislation. The Commission will take account of the need to limit the administrative burden on farmers and national authorities.