If the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is to have "any future" it must have an "adequate budget", the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has stressed.

ICMSA president Denis Drennan spoke following a meeting with Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget and Christophe Hansen, European Commissioner for Agriculture.

The two European commissioners visited Ireland today (Tuesday, February 3) to discuss the EU budget and agriculture.

Denis Drennan said that the "first priority" for the Irish government must be to secure an adequate CAP budget under the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiations during 2026.

'Inadequate'

Drennan said it had been made "abundantly clear" to the commissioners that the current proposed budget for the CAP post-2027 is "completely inadequate" to achieve the stated objectives of CAP.

“We firmly believe that the current CAP is already expected to do too much from a policy perspective and, as a result, is failing in its primary function of delivering a sustainable income to the farmers producing high-quality food daily," Drennan said. 

"It is ICMSA’s firm view that the CAP must refocus on the issue of sustainable farm incomes and the destructive volatility and extreme swings in farm income.

"These are realisable aims that can be achieved through a strong index-linked budget with policies focused on those producing high-quality food."

Simplification

Drennan said the current budget proposal from the EU Commission is "hopelessly inadequate" and will have to be "revised substantially upwards".

On the issue of the EU’s simplification agenda, Drennan said that the issue had long since become what he called "a laugh" and that regulatory requirement and administrative burden was "becoming ever more complex and onerous".

“There isn’t a single farmer who will tell you that the process has become more simple and easy to understand," Drennan said.

"It has to work on the farm level and that's exactly where it’s failing."