The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Dara Calleary T.D., today met via video conference with European Commissioner for Trade, Phil Hogan. The meeting took place as part of a wide range of engagements being undertaken by Minister Calleary with key interlocutors since taking office.                       

Speaking afterwards Minister Calleary stated, “I was pleased to have the opportunity today to establish contact with Commissioner Hogan. Understandably, Brexit and the wider international trading environment, were the two overarching themes of our discussions. I had a very useful exchange with Commissioner Hogan on the current state of play in the EU-UK negotiations, and took the opportunity to reiterate Ireland’s agri-food and fisheries priorities in these negotiations. I welcomed the agreement on the MFF last week, in particular the €5 Billion Brexit Adjustment Fund, for those Member States most negatively affected by Brexit.” 

The Minister had a useful exchange with Commissioner Hogan on the wider international trading environment including trade relations with the US and China. The Minister also took the opportunity of discussing ongoing trade negotiations as well as the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement.

Concluding, the Minister said: “I found today’s discussions extremely helpful. I have already had significant engagement with the main stakeholders domestically and at EU level and I will be continuing this process of engagement over the coming days. Last week I had productive discussions with Irish farming organisations and tomorrow I will meet with industry representatives.” 

ENDS

Date Released: 28 July 2020