Joe Walsh, says that he won't be bullied on CAP reforms
The Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, has said that he will not be bullied into accepting a deal that doesn't suit Ireland when he takes part in negotiations next week on reforming the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. Mr. Walsh says that he will stay at the negotiating table until he gets a fair outcome for Ireland, and he doesn't rule out the use of the veto if the talks go badly.
On Monday, EU farm ministers began a week of negotiations to reform the CAP. Irish farmers at present stand to lose £260m annually, more than a billion pounds over the next five years. The EU wants cuts in the price of beef, milk and grain and farmers will get only about 60% compensation for the cuts.
Germany, which holds at EU presidency at the moment, is hoping to conclude the negotiations next week. However, Minister Walsh said that he doesn't believe the haggling will end next week, it could go on for another month.
He said that he will be insisting on full compensation for farmers and he will be seeking less severe price cuts. He wants better use of quotas on production introduced to help as many farm families as possible to make a decent living from the job.
Mr Walsh said that he does not support the current French concept of "degressivity" where subsidies would be reduced in line with productivity increases. He said that would hit beef much more than wine producers and he called for a fair and equitable reform to suit Ireland. The Minister said that he is confident going into the negotiations. He said that Ireland has a good track record in EU negotiations and he referred to the Veto as "a very useful instrument."
