Written answers

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations

Photo of John McGuinnessJohn McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress made to date with the common agriculture policy negotiations 2014-2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6971/13]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There has been good progress to date in regard to the Common Agricultural Policy reform negotiations. The proposals, comprising four main legal texts and which were launched by the EU Commission in late 2011, are the subject of full co-decision between the three EU institutions – Commission, Council of Ministers and European Parliament.

In the Council, the Polish, Danish and Cyprus Presidencies made substantial progress in clearing a broad range of technical issues. The end of Presidency report produced by Cyprus concluded that there were some thirty or so issues outstanding on which agreement has yet to be reached.

In parallel to the Council, the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament conducted an examination of the dossiers. This committee finalised its position at the end of January and that will now go to the plenary session of the European Parliament next month for its approval.

A number of CAP reform issues, related primarily but not exclusively to funding, have been brought within the ambit of the parallel negotiations on the next EU multiannual financial framework. The successful conclusion of the MFF negotiations last week clears these issues from the Council agenda, although the MFF agreement must yet be approved by the European Parliament.

The single biggest priority of the Irish presidency on the agriculture side is to bring the CAP reform negotiations to a successful conclusion. My aim is to finalise the Council position and negotiating mandate by the end of March, leading to inter-institutional trilogues, with the aim of overall political agreement by the end of June.

I am not in any way underestimating the task ahead. I am fully aware that these are ambitious targets, and that it will require intense work and major compromises on all sides. By their nature, the thirty or so issues that remain to be decided are those that have proved most difficult in the negotiations to date. Much work remains to be done, but I am fully committed to finalising our position at an early date.

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