Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will report on the recent Council of Agriculture Ministers meeting on the common agricultural policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14585/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The primary focus of the discussions at the Council of Agriculture Ministers meeting in Brussels on the 18th and 19th March was on the CAP Reform package. The deputy will be aware that, on the basis of compromise texts tabled by the Irish Presidency, the Council successfully adopted a General Approach on CAP Reform by a strong qualified majority. This has been achieved against a background of lengthy intensive negotiations with my Member State colleagues, across a range of complex and sensitive issues.

Concluding the Council approach was not only a successful outcome for the Irish Presidency but also represents a good outcome for Irish farmers. The key outstanding issue from an Irish perspective related to the distribution of Direct Payments within Member States. I am very pleased that the Council endorsed the principle of flexibility that I have been seeking and agreed to the inclusion of the Irish model of partial convergence to a flat rate system in the options available for distribution of Direct Payments. This increases the prospect of significantly lower transfers of payments between farmers than would be the case under the Commission’s flat rate proposal.

I was also pleased with the Council’s agreement to my proposals on the greening of direct payments. These proposals bring the necessary flexibility to the Commission’s original proposals, so that farmers can practise sustainable agriculture without overly bureaucratic impediments. The agreement also addresses Ireland’s requirements for a greening payment to be applied as a percentage of each farmer’s single payment rather than as a flat rate.

Another good outcome is the agreement amongst my Council colleagues to end sugar quotas in 2017. This is a good compromise as it pulls back substantially from the 2020 end date that had been demanded by many Member States. In relation to voluntary coupled support, Ireland will have the option of using up to 7% of our national envelope for such payments. There was also agreement to the implementation of new Areas of Natural Constraint and a change in the proposed reference year for the establishment of payment entitlements.

This General Approach will form the basis for the next step in the negotiation process. We will now move to the final, so-called ‘trilogue’, stage, where the Irish Presidency will represent the Council in discussions with the European Parliament and with the Commission. The successful completion of the Council’s deliberations means that my target of an inter-institutional political agreement by the end of June remains very much on schedule. I am very hopeful that all participants across all three institutions will maintain their focus and redouble their efforts so that, together, we can bring the reform negotiations to a conclusion by the end of June.