CAP cuts would be ‘catastrophic’ for west region

POTENTIAL cuts in the EU’s agricultural budget for the 2021 to 2027 period could have catastrophic consequences for farming in the West of Ireland, it was warned this week.

Leaked documents from the EU Commission indicated that cuts of between 14% and 19% could be on the cards for the next CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) which will run for eight years starting in 2021.

Connacht IFA Regional Chair, Pat Murphy, told the Farming Tribune that the leaked document came at farmers ‘like a bolt from the blue’ following intensive negotiations and lobbying to try and and at least hold the CAP buedget at current levels.

“We had no knowledge of this and we must ask was this leaked for a purpose to see that the reaction would be. It’s not the news we wanted to hear.

“One thing is for sure: we need our Government and our Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, to fight any such proposal ‘tooth-and-nail.

“Farming as a way of life in the West of Ireland has never been under as much pressure as now – any further cuts in the CAP budget could be catastrophic for the rural way of life in this region,” said Pat Murphy.

The leaked document on the new CAP contained proposals from the President of the European Council, Belgium’s Charles Michel, to cut the agricultural budget to €329 billion from €382 billion in the 2014-2020 CAP.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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