Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Marine Martin Heydon has called for “a clear common framework to ensure consistency and a level playing field” for income support under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2027.

Speaking at the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council today (April 27), the minister said: “Ireland welcomes the opportunity to discuss the design of income support under the post-2027 CAP framework.”

Minister Heydon added that Ireland recognises the importance of ensuring that support is targeted in a "fair and effective manner" across the EU, "particularly towards farmers who are most in need and towards those who contribute to food security and the resilience of agricultural production across the territory”.

Minister Heydon went on to say that “a clear common framework is important to ensure consistency and a level playing field, while sufficient flexibility, for example, to pensions-related proposals, remains necessary to allow member states to design supports that are effective in their specific national contexts".

“Ireland therefore considers that targeting mechanisms should be guided by broad EU principles combined with appropriate flexibility for member states in implementation.”

‘Fairer distribution'

The minister said that Ireland recognises the objective of achieving a "fairer distribution" of income support, and supports efforts to improve the targeting of payments.

He said: “At the same time, it will be important that the design of these mechanisms takes account of the diversity of farm structures across the union and avoids unintended consequences for farm viability and production capacity.

“In Ireland's view, maintaining an appropriate degree of flexibility for member states in the application of these tools will be important in supporting both fairness in the distribution of support and the continued resilience of the agricultural sector across the union.”