MEP calls on government to provide full CAP co-financing
An Irish MEP is calling on the government to ensure that it fully uses the mechanisms in the new proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to boost available funding through national finances.
Barry Cowen was speaking at a meeting of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee, where he said governments "must face up to the reality" that farm incomes and food security will remain under threat without stronger funding commitments.
Cowen acknowledged that the wider EU budget is under threat from multiple competing priorities, but that "the solution cannot be to leave farmers behind".
He called for commitments to food security to be made as well as the major increases in defence and security spending.
The Fianna Fáil MEP said that the CAP proposals, put forward by the European Commission during the summer, contain opportunities that would allow member states to provide additional resources.
These include the use of non-ringfenced amounts in the National Regional Partnership (NRP) Fund, and greater scope for co-financing innovative and succession-focused measures.
However, the Ireland Midland-North-West MEP warned that while those structures are in place, they will only deliver if governments are willing to act.
He called on national authorities to use the flexibilities available and provide the necessary funding to "guarantee viable farm incomes and protect Europe's food systems".
Speaking after the Agriculture Committee meeting, Cowen said: "There has been a lot of negativity around these proposals, but the reality is that there are real possibilities to secure proper funding for the CAP.
"The question is whether governments, including my own, are willing to front up and pay for it.
“We have seen defence and security budgets increase significantly in recent years. That is understandable, but it must go hand in hand with a pro-rata increase for food security. Without that balance, we risk undermining our farmers and jeopardising our long-term resilience," Cowen said.
He added: “Within this proposal, countries have the freedom to add additional resources from the NRP Fund and to co-finance measures that support innovation and generational renewal. Those options are on the table, but they only matter if governments actually use them.
"That is why I am calling on Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, and indeed all my government colleagues, to step up to the plate and commit to properly funding the sector in the next CAP. Farmers deserve no less," the MEP said.
