The EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council (Agri-Fish) meeting today (Monday, September 23) in Brussels was told that Ireland is “still working on our IT reporting system” in relation to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plan.
But, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, told the council that it is understood that other member states are also working on their systems too.
EU countries are responsible for setting up a “management and control system for payments that complies with EU regulations”.
As part of this “countries need to have IT systems collect and report on the performance data for the expenditure under the CAP strategic plans”.
During the Agri-Fish Council’s “stock taking” meeting on CAP today Minister McConalogue said there was still an opportunity for the commission to “simplify the process and provide much needed explanations and make necessary changes”.
“If we work together and move quickly we will find solutions that respect the principles of need to know, not nice to know.
“Ireland thanks the commission for the work to date and urges you to continue to work with member states to find workable solutions to the reporting requirements which are a shared concern for the majority of member states,” the minister added.
Minister McConalogue also called on the European Commission “to do more” for farmers through addressing issues with the CAP New Delivery Model:
“We still need to do more. We welcomed the simplification proposals for farmers and now we need to focus on reducing the administrative complexity of implementing the New Delivery Model.”
“The increased burden is impacting on the work of the administrations and on our ability to be ambitious in achieving our objectives, and in delivering the appropriate supports to our farmers in a timely manner,” he added.
The minister has also stressed that “a fully-funded CAP is key to its successful support for farmers going forward.”