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Minister for Agriculture Food & Marine, Michael Creed TD, this afternoon (Wednesday) met with his Dutch counterpart, Carola Schouten in The Hague. This meeting is the third of a series of bilateral engagements with key EU Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers following on from meetings last week with the Danish and Austrian Ministers.

Commenting on the meeting, Minister Creed said;

This was a useful opportunity to appraise the Deputy PM of the current position on Brexit from an Irish perspective whilst reiterating our concerns and key asks from an Agri-food and fisheries perspective. Furthermore it was helpful to listen to the concerns of the Dutch Government in relation to Brexit and to ascertain the level of preparedness amongst EU colleagues. I was particularly pleased that we were able to agree on the need for further practical cooperation on technical issues, which will be taken forward at official level in the coming weeks.

The Minister added;

The Netherlands, similar to Ireland, has a significant exposure to the UK market for Agri-food and therefore shares many of the same concerns. The Netherlands also has longstanding fisheries in the UK area and like Ireland is fully supportive of the EU approach to Fisheries in the Brexit negotiations.

Minister Creed also sought to identify points of commonality between Ireland’s perspective on the shape of CAP post 2020 and that of the Netherlands. Minister Creed continued;

As significant producers and exporters of food products, Ireland and the Netherlands have traditionally adopted similar positions when it comes to the importance of the CAP. I voiced my determination to ensure a properly resourced CAP in order to deliver on environmental and climate change objectives whilst also supporting the challenges facing farmers in terms of low incomes, market price volatility, competitiveness and generational renewal.

Next week Minister Creed will travel to Berlin, Paris & Copenhagen to continue his series of engagements across the EU.