Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I want to see simplification of measures and systems as a key plank in the CAP after 2013. I must be absolutely clear that this is about increased efficiency and does not involve any weakening of financial controls or reduced accountability. However, I believe there is too much bureaucracy and complexity in the CAP at present. Everyone, and most of all farmers, wants to see a CAP that is much more straightforward to understand and implement. This should be one of the drivers of our policy deliberations on the CAP after 2013. We need a simple EU agricultural policy – simple to justify to EU taxpayers, simple for farmers to understand and operate and simple for member states to implement and enforce.

I have been pressing the need for policy simplification for some time. I raised it at last month's Council of Ministers meeting and I was pleased with the level of support received from colleagues. I also want to see more in the way of technical simplification coming from Brussels. A good start was made last year when some 39 concrete suggestions from member states for simplification were brought to the Council's attention. I was satisfied with the positive and open response of the Commission to the suggestions, many of which either came from or were supported by Ireland and I will do my utmost to ensure that these initiatives continue.