A meeting of member states' agriculture ministers in the Council of the EU yesterday (Monday, September 23) saw several member states criticise the European Commission's plans for the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2027.

A number of ministers at the meeting called for a separate and independent CAP containing two pillars, with an adequate and separate budget, so that it can deliver on food security, environmental, and competitiveness goals.

The proposals from the commission, as they are currently, will see the traditional two pillar format of the CAP merged into one funding stream.

Several agriculture ministers at yesterday's meeting expressed a view that the funding was not sufficient, while some expressed concerns about the complexity of the proposed rules.

However, other ministers also expressed a positive appraisal of some aspects of the proposals, citing a higher degree of flexibility, simplification, and generational renewal.

Commenting after yesterday's meeting Danish minister for agriculture Jacob Jensen (who chairs meetings of the agriculture ministers during Denmark's presidency of the council in the second half of the year) said: "We must ensure a future-proof policy, especially how we pave the way for young farmers, create incentives for the green transition, ensure food security, take up innovative solutions and not least simplification."

Speaking ahead of yesterday's meeting, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon said that the CAP proposals on the table at the moment "represent a major change in how the future CAP will be funded and managed, and I have significant concerns which I will raise in this regard".

"Ireland will continue to engage actively and constructively in the negotiations. But we will be clear in defending our priorities: a CAP that is workable and flexible, that balances economic, social, and environmental sustainability, and that is backed by adequate EU funding," he said.

This meeting of agriculture ministers is a two-day summit, with ministers set to convene again today (Tuesday, September 23), with EU trade policy to take centre stage.

Minister Heydon is set to highlight that while trade is important to prosperity and food security, that EU trade agreements must "continue to defend or more vulnerable sectors and ensure that farmers' livelihoods are not undermined".

"I will continue to emphasise our specific concerns in relation to the [EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement] and its implications for European and Irish beef farming," the minister said in advance of the meeting.