On Tuesday, 14 July, Irish Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon confirmed that the ‘Agriculture’ Council’s main objective over the course of this semester would be to make progress on the common agricultural policy (CAP) reform (see EUROPE 13898/21).
Presenting the Irish Presidency of the Council’s priorities to the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture, Mr Heydon indicated that he hoped the EU Council would reach a ‘partial general approach’ on the future post-2027 CAP regulation.
The parts of the regulation that are related to financial amounts will not be able to be definitively stabilised until the EU’s 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) has been adopted.
The minister emphasised several principles: preserving the CAP’s contribution to food security, securing farm incomes, strengthening rural areas’ resilience, and simplifying implementation.
The Irish minister defended the need to strike a balance between national flexibility and coherence in the single market.
He acknowledged that European farming systems differ greatly depending on the Member State, yet he insisted that it is necessary to preserve a common policy: “Colleagues on Council have, in many instances, asked for that flexibility to recognise that we don’t farm the same way in every Member State. [...] The balance we have to strike is to not undermine the strength of being part of a common market.”
In his view, Member States must have sufficient leeway to adapt measures to local realities without calling the CAP’s common principles into question.
With regard to the Organic Regulation, Martin Heydon wants to reach an agreement with the European Parliament by the end of the year. He intends to advance discussions on the EU Livestock Strategy and the Protein Plan that were presented by the European Commission. He advocated an approach that reconciles competitiveness with the environment.
The minister made generational renewal a major area of focus.
As far as simplification is concerned, the minister acknowledged that European farmers remain sceptical in the face of repeated promises of administrative simplification. “Myself and other ministers for agriculture [...] will not be the first ministers for agriculture to have promised our farmers simplification. And it’s fair to say our farmers would feel [...] they got the opposite,” [he noted]. Nevertheless, he believes that certain measures could truly reduce the administrative burden—while also reiterating that certain complex rules did serve legitimate purposes. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)