Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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267. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the issues discussed at the recent Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting regarding the CAP proposals published in June 2018; his views on the proposed convergence in payments to the national average by 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15790/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Council held a public exchange of views on the CAP reform package on the basis of the Romanian Presidency’s progress report, and revised drafting suggestions to the three Regulations, i.e. the CAP Strategic Plan Regulation, the Horizontal Regulation, and the Common Market Organisation Regulations.  Agriculture Ministers were invited to comment on these documents and provide guidance to the Presidency on the next steps.

With regard to the proposed convergence in payments for the CAP post-2020, the draft regulations propose a mandatory requirement for Member States to ensure that, by 2026, a minimum convergence level of 75% for all payment entitlements is achieved.   Member States will also be required to set a maximum value of individual payment entitlements.  It is proposed that the funding mechanism will be similar to the current system where payment entitlements with values above the average are reduced to fund the convergence.

This proposal builds on the current convergence path of the 2015-2020 CAP Regulations, under which all entitlements must reach a minimum value of 60% of the national average by 2019.  I am open to some further convergence in payments.

Preliminary modelling exercises have been carried out and the results of these analyses are currently being reviewed and revised to take account of the most recently available data. As the draft regulations are developed further, more detailed analyses will be completed in order to fully assess the impact on farmers in Ireland of CAP post-2020. These analyses will, in turn, inform the decisions required at that time.