Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While the marathon meeting of the European Council ended in a resolution of sorts, it served to expose the significant variation in perspectives that exists within the Union about how we will tackle the crisis. There is a view, especially among the so-called frugal four, that the rest of Europe is somehow irresponsible or that we need to be minded like financial children while the financial adults in those states make the grown-up decisions. That is deeply insulting and does not bode well for the sense of solidarity being maintained.

The Taoiseach has welcomed the retention of the significant funding to protect CAP, but we need to see the detail of that. The Council's February proposal introduced a number of increased flexibility measures in the areas of cohesion and agriculture. In view of the effects of Covid-19, a second flexibility package is being added. This relates to the implementation rules under the cohesion policy and CAP, as well as the concentration of European rural development supports. This must happen as a matter of urgency.

We must see an end to what the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association recently called the constant erosion and devaluation of payments. He has correctly noted that there has also been a relentless downward pressure on direct payments to farmers, which has disadvantaged Ireland disproportionately. If EU solidarity is to mean anything, it must show itself in the protection of the most vulnerable and hardest hit sectors, for example, those relating to agriculture and rural development.

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