Coveney Says it is Decision Time on CAP

Source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine — 27th March 2012

Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, yesterday urged colleagues in all three EU institutions to get on with the task of CAP reform. “The new Financial Framework for the EU budget for 2014 to 2020 imposes a natural deadline for decisions on further reform. If we are to have the reformed CAP in place to coincide with the new EU budget period, the time is fast approaching for decisions” the Minister said. The Minister added that, as an incoming Presidency of the EU in January 2013, Ireland was committed to playing an active and constructive role in securing a deal.

The Minister was speaking during a session on ‘Key Issues and Challenges for the CAP Reform’ at the 2012 Food Forum for Agriculture Conference in Brussels, which was also addressed by EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolos and the Chairman of the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, Paolo de Castro. The Minister stressed the important contribution that the agri-food sector can make to the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy, centred on the achievement of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth: “The reform of the CAP must be consistent with this strategy and the three objectives in the Commission’s proposals — of preserving food production potential, sustainably managing natural resources and maintaining viable rural areas — are a good starting point. Indeed, these objectives mirror closely the Irish priorities for the CAP that I have been highlighting in recent months, which are the sustainable intensification of food production, responsible stewardship of the environment and the maintenance of a vibrant rural economy”. 

Full Press Release:  http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/press/pressreleases/2012/march/title,62249,en.html