Ireland is to be granted approval for a derogation to make 70% advance payments on direct payments under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, confirmed the news to AgriLand in an interview this evening (Monday, July 23).
Speaking on the matter, Commissioner Hogan said: “We’re going ahead with giving approval to Minister Creed to be able to make those advance payments to 70% for Basic Payments and 85% for rural development from October 15.”
Derogation
The request for a derogation was made due to the extremely harsh weather endured across the country this year, according to a statement on the issue from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine last week.
Also Read: 70% advance payment derogation sought from BrusselsThe statement highlighted that: “In light of the extreme weather conditions this year, the department has recently submitted an application to the European Commission seeking a derogation to make advance payments of up to 70% for direct payments and of up to 85% for support granted under rural development.
These rates are in line with those approved by the commission in some previous years. A response is awaited from the commission.
A derogation to issue 70% advance payments was secured by the department both last year and in 2016.
Under EU regulations, balancing payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) / Greening may commence on December 1, 2018.
Under normal conditions, an advance payment of up to 50% would be made from October 16.
‘Relaxing of EU conditions’
Meanwhile, the European Commission may also consider making a “significant amount of land available” for the conservation of fodder, following a request lodged by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.
According to a spokesperson for Minister Creed, a request has been formally made to the commission asking for “the relaxing of a number of conditions” that could potentially make large swathes of land accessible in order to deal with acute concerns regarding fodder reserves.