Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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139. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the rural development plan 2014-2020 will be formally submitted to the European Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26354/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (RDP) will be a key support in enhancing the competitiveness of the agri-food sector, achieving more sustainable management of natural resources and ensuring a more balanced development of rural areas. The proposed measures for inclusion in the new RDP were the subject of extensive stakeholder consultation and the resultant public feedback informed the design of the draft Programme. An ex-ante evaluation incorporating a Strategic Environmental Analysis and an Appropriate Assessment is currently being carried out on the proposed measures by independent, external evaluators in a process which also involves a further round of stakeholder consultation.

Under the EU Regulations, the deadline for the submission of the draft RDP to the Commission is 22 July, 2014 but is intended to submit a draft of the new RDP to the European Commission at the end June, 2014. The submitted draft will then form the basis for detailed discussions with the European Commission over the following months.