A meeting of EU agriculture, rural and fisheries ministers will take place in the Council of the EU today (Monday, February 23), with the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) again on the agenda.

The meeting will be attended on Ireland's behalf by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon and Minister of State for fisheries Timmy Dooley.

The meeting will hear from the EU's agri chief Christophe Hansen, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food.

Apart from taking part in the council meeting in Brussels, Minister Heydon will also hold bilateral talks with his counterparts from Czechia (formerly known as Czech Republic) and Sweden.

Speaking ahead of the council meeting, Minister Heydon said: "I look forward to meeting with Commissioner Hansen and my EU counterparts.

"In just over four months’ time, Ireland will take on the presidency of the Council of the EU. The Irish government is committed to delivering a successful presidency for Europe," he added.

Ireland is set to take over the rotating presidency of the council from July 1 to December 31 this year.

The minister said: "During the Irish presidency, we will play a crucial role in shaping the future CAP. I look forward to hearing from my colleagues around the table on their priorities.

"Our priority is to secure a properly funded CAP that is simpler, fairer and sufficiently flexible to respond to economic, social and environmental needs," he added.

According Minister Heydon, this will be important to farm families in Ireland and the wider agri-food sector, as it "underpins the sustainability and competitiveness of the sector".

Outside of the CAP, the meeting will also see European Commission representatives present a report evaluating the Unfair Trading Practices Directive.

Minister Heydon noted that the Irish government will engage with stakeholders here before forming an official opinion on the commission's report.

"Ireland will continue to engage with Irish farming and food business stakeholders, and with An Rialálaí Agraibhia [Agri-Food Regulator] as the implementation body for the directive, before finalising our position on the review," he said.

The meeting today will also include an informal lunch for ministers, where they will discuss the EU strategic priorities for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).