Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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6. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position with regard to discussions on the next Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, reform; and his priorities for the next CAP. [41294/18]

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Permission has been given to Deputy McLoughlin to take the question tabled by Deputy Neville.

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of my colleague, Deputy Neville, who cannot be here this morning, I want to ask the Minister about the position on discussions on the next CAP reform and his priorities for it. I ask the Minister to outline this.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Proposals for new regulations for the CAP for 2021 to 2027 were published on Friday, 1 June 2018 by the Commissioner, Mr. Hogan. The proposals as drafted involve significant changes, including on governance, the distribution of direct payments among farmers and the increasing environmental conditionality attaching to such payments. There will be some additional discretion for member states in configuring the measures available, within parameters laid down in Council regulations. Risk management measures, and measures to support young farmers and new entrants will be mandatory, and there will be a significant emphasis on education and technology adoption. At least 5% of rural development funds will be ring-fenced for the LEADER programme.

The Commission's objective is to have the proposals adopted by the co-legislators in spring 2019, prior to European Parliament elections in May that year. Preliminary discussions of the draft proposal took place at the informal Council meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Agriculture Ministers discussed the proposals in more detail at the recent agri-fish Councils. Further discussions will take place in Luxembourg on 15 October. In general, member states have expressed concerns about the level of the budget and the different nature and additional complexity for reasons stated.

The Austrian Presidency has implemented an intensive programme of working party meetings to discuss specific aspects of the CAP proposals. Meetings commenced in July and have continued into September and October, where up to ten additional working party meetings have been scheduled.

To date, the special committee of agriculture has been provided with three separate updates on the state of play of the working party meetings. A progress report on CAP post-2020 discussions was presented at the special committee on 8 October in preparation for the upcoming Agriculture and Fisheries Council in October.

I am pleased to see the continued commitment in the new proposals to direct payments. They are a crucial component of the family farm income and their value cannot be underestimated. They provide income support, help prevent land abandonment and contribute towards economic growth in rural areas, as well as contributing towards the public goods that are delivered by farmers across Ireland and the European Union. This emphasises the need to continue to seek to secure an adequate and appropriate budget for CAP post-2020.

Another key feature is the increased environmental conditionality of CAP post-2020. A minimum of 40% of the CAP budget for each member state must be devoted to the environment and climate change. This increased conditionality recognises the role agriculture has to play in helping us meet our climate objectives. All European countries, including Ireland, have commitments under the Paris accord. I have always been clear that protecting the environment and maintaining our agrifood sector go hand in hand, and one cannot have one without the other. I want to see a future CAP playing a major role in supporting the farm sector in contributing to climate change mitigation and improved water quality and biodiversity.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

My officials and I are working constructively on the CAP proposals. My Department has engaged in a consultative process with all stakeholders involved. In February this year, I launched my Department's public consultation process. As part of that process, both the Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle, and I participated in six public meetings held to discuss the future of the CAP in various locations around the country. The public consultation was followed by a consultative conference with stakeholders in July. The outcome of the public consultation process and the stakeholder conference is feeding into the Department's analysis and consideration of Ireland's position on key issues in the proposals.

The CAP proposals are intrinsically linked to the proposals for the overall EU budget, the multi-annual financial framework, MFF. The MFF proposes a 5% cut to the overall CAP budget. While decisions on this are a matter for Heads of State and Ministers for Finance, I have worked with my colleagues in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council to gain agreement on the need to protect the CAP budget. In May this year I, along with my EU ministerial colleagues from France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Finland, signed a joint memorandum seeking the retention of the CAP budget at current levels. The memorandum was presented at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on 18 June, and up to 20 other EU Ministers have signalled their support to this proposal. At the Council on 16 July 2018, France and Germany presented a joint declaration that included a rejection of the cuts proposed. This paper was supported by other member states, including Croatia, Romania, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Belgium and Ireland. The retention of a sufficient budget for CAP is an essential requirement for Ireland. This is even more important against the background of Brexit.

We are engaged in the negotiation process but many aspects remain to be clarified so it is by no means certain what the final outcome of the proposals will be. I reassure the Deputy that I am committed to securing the best possible outcome for Ireland in the continuing negotiations.

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. Some people have expressed concern about the level of the budget and the direct payments. We have spoken in the past couple of days about the amount of funding to tackle climate change, and that is uppermost in people's minds here. Will the Minister elaborate on these matters?

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The concern is that the budget as presented by Commissioner Phil Hogan is inadequate. We should bear in mind that the Commission can only spend the money member states give them, and we must acknowledge that Europe has other big challenges, including migration, security etc. We have always argued that member states should contribute more, and that must be done by unanimous agreement. We have indicated as a Government a willingness to contribute more to the European project, and the other challenges I alluded to are not a reason to raid the Common Agricultural Policy budget.

The first hurdle we must clear is to get an adequate budget for the Common Agricultural Policy because it guarantees high quality food and because of the environmental benefits it brings. There is a clear indication that the citizens of Europe have said they are prepared to support that, provided there is a greater degree of environmental ambition. This brings me to the clear content of the proposal published in early June by Commissioner Hogan, which is that there will be greater conditionality on the payments that farmers currently get. They will have to prove they are acting in a way that provides further benefit to the environment in terms of water quality, biodiversity etc. Most farmers acknowledge that.

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The biggest concern is the budget, particularly the funding this country puts into it and what we get out of it. Climate has also been mentioned and it is a major concern for everybody in this country. Will the Minister elaborate on those matters?

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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When we seek more funds from the Common Agricultural Policy, it should not be misinterpreted as us with the bowl out looking for more from Europe. We pay in more to the European Union than we get out in net terms. We are a net contributor to the European Union budget. The Common Agricultural Policy is of such importance not just to farmers or the rural community but to the citizens of Europe as a whole, as well as citizens of the world because we are a net food exporting region. This is in the context of climate change, the high standards of production we have and the growing global population. CAP is as crucial now as it ever was, and our asking for more funding should therefore be seen in such a context.

It is inevitable that there will be greater conditionality and the timelines are extremely challenging. The Commission remains hell-bent on trying to agree a position before the European Parliament elections where the Parliament and the Council of Ministers would also have an agreed position. Trialogues will be entered into at this stage; there is much jargon around this but essentially this involves three parties sitting around a table in order to get a final deal. This will be very challenging as the premise is that the incoming Parliament would accept or be bound by the positions taken by the previous Parliament. Even if that were the case, the timeline is very challenging in the context of everything else that must be concluded with respect to Brexit etc.