The next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget needs to increase in order to meet inflation, according to an Irish MEP.

Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh was speaking to Agriland in Brussels ahead of the unveiling of the European Commission's proposals on the next EU long-term budget.

The commission is due to present its position on the Multi-Annual Finance Framework (MFF) on July 16.

Negotiations on the next MFF will have to be finalised by the end of 2027, in order for the new budget to enter into force on January 1, 2028.

Proposals on the format of the next CAP post-2027 are also set to be revealed by the EU Commission next month.

It is understood that the commission is considering a ‘single fund’ approach to the MFF for each country, meaning there will not be ringfenced funding for the EU’s policy areas, including CAP.

This has led to concerns from farming organisations that it may result in the loss of the traditional two pillar format of CAP.

Maria Walsh, who is a full member of the European Parliament's Committee on Agricultural and Rural Development, stressed the need to protect and preserve the CAP format "in what we have known it before".

"We need to have a Common Agricultural Policy that is in line with inflation and real inflation, so that farmers who are producing multiple meals a day are actually getting paid for their product, not getting lost in the supply chain, which is another problem.

"I'm doing a lot of work on generational renewal and it's very difficult to sell the message to young farmers that's there's going to be a future in five, 10, 15 years' time if we see any form of funding mechanisms watered down," the Midlands North-West MEP said.

"We need the money there to provide if the supply chain is not being fixed in the short-term, which sadly we're not seeing that ambition for every element of the supply chain, as I would wish," she added.

However, MEP Walsh warned that "a blank cheque is not going to fix everything either".

"I think we need to be risk-averse with the sector, in the sense of money is needed for farmers to do what the do best, but we also have to give them access to land.

"We also have to give them mental health supports. We have to be very clear on women and women's role within the farming sector and get them also included in the budget," Walsh said.

The MEP added that "we have to be really bold in how we use technology" in the agriculture sector.

Walsh also spoke against centralising Pillar II, which she said is "which is very much about promoting our rural communities".

She said it was important that EU taxpayers' money which is set aside "is meeting the demands it needs to at grassroots level".

"What I don't want to happen is that a community group and a farmer is going for the same pot of money," she said.