A number of options are open to the incoming government for transitioning from the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to the next delayed CAP, according to the secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Brendan Gleeson was speaking at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) today, Friday, March 6.
During his speech, and in the following question and answer session, Gleeson addressed the most likely scenario for carrying over current schemes – including temporary new schemes that would work similarly to those now in place.
There will be a need for transitional arrangements that will bridge the gap between the current legal framework and the next CAP.
“There is a transitional regulation being discussed at the moment which will allow us to do a number of things in the context of 2021 and probably 2022,” said Gleeson.
He explained: “It’s vert straightforward in terms of direct payments. Annual schemes that don’t change significantly can continue.”
The options get more complex for ‘one-year programmes’.
For multiannual schemes, we would probably have a number of options. One would be to roll them over for one year.
“Another might be to have some kind of new equivalent scheme, which we could run for a period of three years,” the department’s secretary general outlined.
He continued: “Another thing to do is just roll over what we have. And that may be necessary, as they’re may be no other option.”
The reason that there may be no other option besides a roll-over, according to Gleeson, is the time it is taking to finalise the transitional regulation – with the uncertainty over government formation in Ireland also presenting a potential difficulty.
Everything I say has to be couched in terms of a new government coming in.
“The regulation isn’t finalised yet. There is clearly an urgency in getting this decided. Putting arrangements in place for new schemes or even extended schemes is a huge exercise,” Gleeson highlighted.
He stressed: “We need the regulation to be concluded in the near future.”
Gleeson also told the attendees at the ACA AGM that it was likely to be April – or possibly even May – before the next European Council meeting on the EU budget is held, the first meeting of which ended in late February without agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).