Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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497. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the latest EU Commission MFF budget and CAP funding proposals; if he will provide a breakdown of total EU funding proposed under Pillars 1 and 2 at EU and member state level. [10433/20]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the latest proposals from the European Commission for an increased CAP budget for the period 2021-2027 in the revised European Multiannual Financial Framework accompanying the new European Recovery Programme.

I have long been opposed to the original Commission proposals for the CAP budget, announced back in May 2018, which proposed a 5% cut to the CAP budget post-2020. I have worked tirelessly with my European colleagues to successfully build a broad alliance to support the maintenance of the CAP budget for the next programming period.

The new proposals represent a significant advance on the original Commission MFF proposal of May 2018. The revised proposal for the CAP sees additional funding being added to bring funding levels to some €375 billion (current prices), with a further special injection of rural development funds – of some €16.5 billion - from the new Next Generation EU fund, bringing the total allocation to €391 billion for the period 2021-2027, with some €290 billion in Pillar I and €101 billion in Pillar II. The budgetary proposals have been set out at overall EU-27 level.

The new MFF proposals will play an important role in supporting the economic recovery of Member States. However, these proposals are complex and my Department is examining them in detail so that we can fully understand the precise implications for our agri-food sector.