The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) has said that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform cannot be handled by the European Parliament Environment Committee.
ICSA President Partick Kent, speaking on the group’s website, said that he is very concerned at reports that the Environment Committee of the European Parliament is lobbying for increased control over the parliament’s position on CAP reform.
Handled-By Specialists
“While ICSA is in favour of CAP rewarding farmers who go the extra mile on biodiversity or climate change actions, it is essential that decisions are made by those who best understand the farming perspective,” he said.
“In our view, what is the point of a European Parliament Agriculture Committee if it is not to analyse and improve EU Commission proposals? This is not to say that the viewpoint of the Environment Committee should be side-lined but on the other hand, this committee should not be the lead committee on CAP strategy or any element of the CAP reform dealing with payments to farmers.”
“The European Parliament Environment Committee took a very extreme position on biofuels which was detrimental to crop-based biofuels grown by EU farmers. This is just one example of how it is important that dossiers which are vital to farmers are handled by committees that specialise in and understand complex agricultural issues.”
The decision on the topic is due to be made in the coming weeks and the ICSA has said the association has lobbied in Brussels to keep the CAP reform under the umbrella of the agriculture committee.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
