By Chris MacManus MEP, Sinn Féin
As the dust settles after three years of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) talks, we have to be realistic about what we achieved for farmers and what was politically possible.
We entered negotiations knowing citizens expected the CAP to raise its ambition on the environment, but with a smaller budget than before. Sinn Féin believed the only way to achieve this was by being more strategic about how we spend every cent, prioritising small to medium-sized farms and allowing large farm enterprises to depend more on their profits – they do benefit from economies of scale after all.
Small to medium-sized farms
The three best ways to target supports to small to medium-sized farms are full convergence, a redistributive payment and payment capping. We in the Parliament pushed hard for significant progress in these areas. At all stages of the negotiations, we were met with opposition from the Council, representing national governments.
They sought maximum leeway to distribute payment as they see fit. I (Chris MacManus) am a believer in sovereign governments making their own decisions about how to provide for their citizens, but we must look at their track record to date.
Currently, the highest subsidies go to those that need them the least. The EU 2018 figures show almost one-third (28.2%) of land is now in the hands of just 1.3% of farmers, those with at least 250 hectares.
Due to this control of land, they swallow 23% of direct payments. Then, 48.2% of all EU farmers, those farming 5ha or less, receive just 5.5% of payments. This is of course at EU level. When it comes to the situation in Ireland, only 0.3% of farmers are in the over 250ha range, yet they receive ten times this percentage when it comes to their slice of overall payments.
The Government’s methods are clearly failing EU farmers. The only way to reverse this reality is by requiring national governments, through legislation, to implement a fairer CAP.
VIDEO: What happens next? Chris MacManus CAP update.
The Parliament proposed full convergence, a 10% redistributive payment and a cap on payments of 100,000, with digressively from 60,000. To Sinn Féin, the parliament’s proposal were modest given we support a 20% redistributive payment and a hard payment cap at 60,000, but we accepted the parliament’s position as a starting point, to later be improved through pressuring the Irish government, at national level.
The final agreement reached set convergence at 85%, the redistributive payment at 10%, with exceptions, and for payment capping to be voluntary.
The weakness of the agreement on capping and exceptions to the 10% redistributive payment made it very difficult to support. However, being pragmatic, you must look at what 85% convergence will mean for the distribution of payments in Ireland.
Convergence
Anyone with per hectare payments under €265, would see an increase. Those on payments of €700 or above will be brought down to €505. This is what convergence is all about, shrinking the difference between those on the bottom and those on top. It is also important to note that full convergence would be more beneficial, by increasing the payments of 73,000 farmers, representing 60% of them.
As a public representative, I cannot dismiss a change in policy that would deliver more equality between Irish farmers. Of course, I acknowledge you will have farmers and certain sectors who will not see a benefit, and we must look at other ways to assist them, but we cannot fall into the trap of the perfect being the enemy of the good.
I will therefore support this agreement, and get to work campaigning in Ireland for the Irish Government adopt to Sinn Féin’s policy on full convergence, capping and an increased redistributive payment. The flexibility to do this is built into the legislation and would be warmly received by the farmers I represent.
Irish Agriculture is at a crossroads, the family farm model is under threat from the rise of feedlots and the only way to provide a future for the next generation is through radical reform of the CAP.
Sinn Féin will continue to speak up for those who feel left behind by the current policy, doing nothing simply isn’t an option if we are serious about the future of rural Ireland and our low carbon grass fed production model.
