Proposed Cuts to 2021 Payments Must Be Rejected

The draft EU budget for 2021, which has been published by the EU Commission, is totally unacceptable and must be rejected by the new Government. The proposal for Pillar I of the CAP, which includes the Basic Payment Scheme is approximately €50m less for Ireland, than 2020.

IFA President Tim Cullinan said: “This Budget proposal confirms what IFA have been saying consistently that more money is needed for the CAP. We cannot have any cuts to payments in 2021.”

The proposed allocation for 2021, the first year of transition, is based on the latest EU Commission proposal for the seven-year EU budget for 2021-27 known as the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF). This MFF has not been approved by the EU Heads of State and will be discussed at an EU Summit in July.

“The latest Commission proposal has been trumpeted by the EU as a good deal for the CAP, but now we see the reality which is that farmers are facing cuts of 4.5% in their payments next year if this proposal goes through in its current form,” he said.

“This must be a priority issue for the new Government,” he said.