Longford MEP warns Council’s CAP plan sets course for clash with Parliament

Midlands North West MEP Ciaran Mullooly has warned that the Council’s negotiating position on the post-2027 CAP lacks ambition and sets the scene for difficult and prolonged negotiations with the European Parliament.

“The Council, under the direction of Minister Martin Heydon during Ireland’s Presidency, is setting the course for a head-on confrontation with Parliament on a number of fronts.

“There is an attempt to present the National and Regional Partnership Plan framework as a fait accompli—the only show in town. I do not accept that farmers must settle for a CAP with reduced funding and agriculture relegated to second-division status within a wider national spending plan.

“The Council’s position offers no sufficiently clear vision for what European agriculture should achieve over the next seven years, or how farmers will be given the resources to deliver it. We cannot keep asking farmers to do more while providing them with less."

Mr Mullooly said he welcomed the commitment to greater support for young farmers, including higher income support and assistance to establish their businesses.

"This is a positive step, but it must be backed by adequate, secure funding.

“Overall, however, the Council’s position falls short of the ambition needed to protect family farms, sustain rural communities and secure European food production.

“I expect lengthy and difficult negotiations with Parliament to address these inadequacies. My priorities remain a properly funded, separately protected CAP, a strong two-pillar structure and fair, practical rules that reflect the realities of Irish farming.”