merrion street

- Brexit agri-food and fisheries concerns discussed with key Member States -

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, TD, has again called for the EU’s ambitions in relation to climate action to be matched by an appropriate CAP budget.

Speaking at today’s informal meeting of Agriculture Ministers, where debate focused on the issue of soil carbon sequestration, Minister Creed acknowledged the central role of the CAP in helping the agriculture sector to meet the challenges posed by climate change. However, he also pointed out:

We are asking farmers to do more, so we need to continue to argue for a strong CAP budget to be maintained post-2020 so that they can be appropriately rewarded for the important work they do which benefits biodiversity, soil and landscape management, and water quality.

Minister Creed also took the opportunity provided by today’s gathering to hold bilateral meetings with counterparts on a range of issues of critical importance to Ireland.

In the course of separate discussions with French, German, Dutch, Danish, Polish and Slovakian Ministers, he focused in particular on the potential impacts of a hard Brexit on the agri-food and fisheries sectors, the ongoing negotiations on the post-2020 CAP, shared challenges in relation to climate change and the EU-Mercosur trade agreement.

The Minister said:

I had very useful discussions today with key colleagues on matters of significant concern for Ireland. In particular, we focused on Brexit developments. I conveyed my own, and the Government’s, gratitude for the solidarity demonstrated by Member States to date with Ireland’s position on the Withdrawal Agreement, and it was clear to me that this will continue. Fisheries was a particular focus, and those colleagues who are part of the coalition of eight Member States on this issue agreed with me that we must continue to stress the need for a coordinated approach to dealing with issues such as access to waters in the event of a hard Brexit, as well as the need to link access to waters with the broader issue of the future EU-UK trading relationship. We will continue to work closely on these matters over the coming weeks.