The trilogue between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the agriculture ministers in the Council of the EU has ended without agreement, Minister Charlie McConalogue has confirmed.
The three institutions of the EU were trying to hammer out an agreement on reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
In a video posted to his Twitter page this morning, the minister said: “We’re just finished up after two long nights and two long days of trilogue negotiations between the European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission on the next CAP programme.
“Unfortunately it hasn’t reached agreement. It will have to wait until the next time the council recommences.”
The minister added “The agreement had to be one that worked for Ireland…and gave us the flexibility to ensure the next CAP programme would be one where we have significant capacity to influence it at national level and ensure that it works for our national agricultural model.”
He added: “There’s more work involved in this but there is the capacity still now in the days and weeks ahead to ensure that there’s a CAP delivered which works for Ireland and Irish farmers and ensures we have the flexibility to put in place schemes that put farmers and family farm incomes at their centre.”
Meanwhile, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, also took to social media to say: “We were very close to reaching an agreement this week. However, I do hope that we will still achieve a compromise during the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU.
“The commission stands ready to work with [the Portuguese presidency].”
Also commenting, Portuguese minister for Agriculture Maria do Ceu Antunes (who leads the EU’s agriculture ministers under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU) said: “We want to close the deal, but not at any cost.”
The next council meeting of agriculture ministers is scheduled to take place on June 28. It is unclear at the moment if the lack of a deal this week will cause a change in this date.
Portugal’s presidency of the council is set to end just two days later, on June 30, at which point it passes the baton to Slovenia.