Brussels, 11/05/2016 (Agence Europe) -European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan does not want to tell voters which way to vote at the referendum on 23 June on the future of the United Kingdom in the EU but he was keen to point out on Monday 9 May, during a conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, what the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) had brought to the country's farmers.
Hogan emphasised that over the past ten years, EU payments to Northern Irish farmers have accounted for 87% of their annual incomes, whilst in the United Kingdom as a whole, this figure stands at 53%.
The CAP is not only important from an economic point of view but also because it provides consumers with healthy good-quality food for feeding their families, Hogan stated. He also highlighted the benefits Northern Irish farmers derive from the trade agreements signed between the EU and third countries.
Hogan stated that if the United Kingdom left the EU there would be a significant cut in support to farmers (up to a third), with knock-on effects across the rural economy as a whole. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)