Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I would not underestimate the commitment or the capacity of the new Commissioner, who is totally committed to the agriculture sector and to maximising the best possible budget we all want post-2013 towards an adequately resourced CAP. At the Council of Ministers, Ireland, together with France, Austria, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Poland, submitted a joint paper which was discussed at the Agriculture Council on 17 May. Some 19 member states intervened in that particular debate and most of them echoed the concerns outlined in the paper we co-authored. Commissioner Ciolos reassured member states at the meeting that he was very well aware of their concerns and said he would be vigilant, to say the least, in ensuring that EU agriculture was properly protected. He pointed out that the recent decision was merely to re-open negotiations. The original mandate given by member states had not changed, he said, and there would be further opportunities for them to influence negotiations.

For Deputy Creed's benefit, this is a Commission initiative and it is within the competence of the Commission to re-open these negotiations. It is not a matter for the Heads of Government, unfortunately.

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