Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill has announced details of how CAP reform will be implemented in Northern Ireland. The key points are:
- Seven year transition period to flat rate payments
- NI will be treated as one region, and will work towards a flat rate payment of 329 Euros/ha
- Coupling of payments to vulnerable sectors has been retained as an option
- £623m for the next rural development programme, which includes £250m of government funding mainly targeted at delivering on the growth plans of the Agri-Food Strategy Board
- Less favoured area (LFA) payments to farmers in Severely Disadvantaged Area (SDA) will continue to be made from rural development. Farmers in the Disadvantaged Area will no longer receive payments from 2017. In 2016 they will receive a transition payment which will be about half of what they are currently paid.
The decisions on CAP have been broadly welcomed by farming organisations and local politicians. In a statement the Ulster Farmers Union said that while the final deal was not exactly what they wanted, farmers in Northern Ireland will be relieved that agreement has finally been reached.
Commenting on a deal, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “I’m very pleased that the Executive has reached a resolution on this very important issue. There were diverse views on some of the remaining CAP implementation issues. Compromise was needed and we have succeeded in finding a fair and balanced solution which represents a good outcome for farmers’ right across the north. We were all well aware that if decisions on these issues are not notified to the EU Commission by 1 August 2014, then the default position would be imposed on us by Brussels. This was a situation I was determined to avoid, especially when I fought so hard to secure the right to make decisions locally.”
(Source – Irish Farmers Journal – David Wright – 26/06/2014)