Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 21: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the bilateral meetings he has had with other EU agriculture ministers in relation to the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27710/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Since I was appointed Minister on 9 March last, I have had formal bilateral meetings with my French, UK, Spanish and Danish Ministerial colleagues. I have also taken the opportunity to meet formally with my Ministerial colleagues from the other Member States and the EU Commission at the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers meetings held in Brussels and Luxemburg and also at the Informal Ministerial Councils held in Hungary and Poland. The main purpose of these contacts was to build up alliances with like-minded Member States regarding the upcoming reform of the CAP.

Most recently, I met my French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire, in Paris last week and we agreed a common set of priorities for the forthcoming negotiations, namely

To ensure that the negotiations for the next EU budget framework deliver at least a stable budget for the CAP, to support sustainable food production in the EU;

To obtain the necessary flexibility for Member States in relation to payment models and transition arrangements for distribution of single payment funds to farmers;

To ensure that future "greening" of the direct income support schemes should be simple to apply both for farmers and Member State administrations and should not entail additional costs for either; the scope of the greening should be pegged to the budgetary resources allocated to the CAP;

To ensure an appropriate market support framework for agricultural markets, including economic and sanitary measures, that is capable of responding flexibly as the need arises.

To keep CAP processes as simple and as effective as possible and to minimise unnecessary bureaucracy for the farmer and costs for the Member State.

Over the coming period, as negotiations intensify, I will continue to interact with my Ministerial colleagues and with the Commission and European Parliament.