Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 602: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views in relation to the Common Agricultural Policy reforms that aim to link payments to land size rather than productivity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11268/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The European Commission's proposals for the reform of the CAP post-2013 include a proposal to gradually move away from payments based on historical production towards a system of uniform national or regional payment rates by 2019. The mechanism proposed raises serious concerns for Ireland, in that it would result in very significant transfers from more productive farms to more marginal and less productive land.

Analysis carried out by my Department indicates that, under a national flat-rate model, the most productive farmers would lose, on average, about one-third of their current payments, while the least productive farmers would see their payments rise by an average of 86%. Alternative redistributions based on a two-region model, or even an eight-region model, would have similar outcomes. I do not believe that these are compatible with my commitment to sustainable intensification of production, the maintenance of a vibrant rural economy and the achievement of the objectives of the Food Harvest 2020 strategy.

I have been relaying these concerns very strongly at every opportunity in recent months, most recently in the course of discussions with the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolos, during his visit to Dublin last month. I pressed for the maximum possible flexibility to be given to Member States to design payment models that suit their own farming conditions, and to include the possibility of lengthy transition periods. The 'approximation' approach, by which all payments could gradually move towards the average, and which the Commission itself has adopted in the distribution of funds between Member States, is one alternative that is currently being examined.

I will continue to work intensively with the Commissioner, and with my counterparts at the Council of Ministers, to achieve the required flexibility and to come up with an acceptable solution that does not have the dramatic redistributive effects inherent in the current proposals.