Irish MEP Barry Cowen has told a meeting of farmers that there are ways to bridge the gap in Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) proposed funding post-2027, but that EU member states will also have to boost their contributions to co-financing.

The Fianna Fáil MEP was speaking at a meeting today (Thursday, April 9) he organised in Mullingar on the future of the CAP.

The current proposals for the new CAP, as part of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028 to 2034, which were published for first time last summer, envisage a 20% cut in the overall money available to farmers over that period.

Although these are only proposals at this stage, the proposed cut has been universally condemned by farm organisations, as well as by politicians from rural constituencies.

Speaking to Agriland at the meeting, Cowen suggested that finance is the central point of contention in the next CAP.

He said: "Well the first issue is the whole issue of finance. What’s being proposed by the commission is 20% less than what the present Common Agricultural Policy is.

"There’s a realisation, there’s a budgetary reality that the expenditure on the likes of defence and security is real, and that is the major contributing factor to the reduction that we have," he added.

"We have to accept and realise that there are many eastern bloc countries that are more interested in tanks than tractors to be quite honest," the Midlands North-West MEP said.

However, Cowen said that there are ways to make up the shortfall in future CAP funding, or at least partially make it up.

One of those was the commitment announced in January by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to bring forward a proposal to make a further €45 billion available in the first year (2028) of the EU's next long-term budget for farm payments, by bringing forward money that was reserved for after a MFF mid-term review.

That proposal came as part of efforts to win over support among member states for the EU-Mercosur Trade Deal.

Cowen said: "We have identified and will be making proposals on how we can bridge that gap in the first place by virtue of the...funding that the commission has made available on foot of the Mercosur agreement, in relation to the safeguards and conditions associated with that, where another €45 billion of funding from within the commission’s MFF spend [would be] made available to agriculture at a mid point in the next Common Agricultural Policy.

"We want to bring that forward, allow that to be in the ringfenced envelope for the Common Agricultural Policy," he added.

Another potential fix for the funding shortfall is a proposed €48 billion pot for rural development (which is different from the familiar CAP Pillar II rural development) and regional cohesion-type payments, which would support policies like the LEADER programme.

Cowen said he wants to see that brought within the remit of CAP so that it can supplement the farm payments budget while also continuing to support the LEADER programme.

After that, it's up to member states to cough up to protect farm payments.

Cowen said: "And then the responsibility thereafter would be on the likes of the Irish government and other states committing to matching funding, so there’s no further conditonality to payments presently, but that we would look at rewarding those who move towards increased sustainable production, who move towards following innovations, following new technology, encouraging generational renewal to become a reality, that there would be a payment-based system, or a reward-based system for that."

He added: "That is contained within the provisions, but obviously, ambition can only be realised with an increased budget, and that’s where I come back to the first point that I made. Aspirations and priorities are fine, but they are nothing more than that if they’re not matched with funding."