The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, today attended a meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers in France. The informal gathering, called by French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll against the backdrop of the UK decision to leave the EU and the volatility being experienced on agricultural markets, discussed the role and future place of the Common Agricultural Policy in the European Project. Speaking after the meeting, Minister Creed commented: "today's discussions were a useful opportunity to exchange initial views on the key challenges facing the CAP as we begin to consider how the policy will develop for the period post-2020. Today was not a day for making decisions, but it did give Member States a chance to identify some of the issues that will need to be addressed in the forthcoming debate on the future of European agricultural policy."

The Minister emphasised some of the key considerations from an Irish perspective. He said: "I was glad to be able to voice Irish concerns about the need to maintain the relevance of the CAP in a broader EU context. As well as helping to mitigate the impact of increased global market volatility on farmers’ incomes, particularly in a post Brexit scenario, the strengths of the CAP in terms of its contribution to EU jobs and growth, and to the achievement of societal objectives, must be further built upon. A particular challenge for the agriculture sector will be to increase food production in an environmentally sustainable way, and the CAP will play a central role in the achievement of this objective." 

View this Press Release as a PDF: DAFMPR 97/2016 (pdf 360Kb) 

Date Released: 02 September 2016