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Irish Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Heydon says EU's latest efforts to cut red tape of ‘limited benefit' to Irish farmers
Speaking at a meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels, he said that while the proposals address some concerns raised by Ireland and member states, their impact on Irish family farms may be marginal. He welcomed some changes, particularly to the performance clearance and amendment processes used by governments, which he said 'should go some way to ease the administrative burden for member states in relation to conditionality'. However, Mr Heydon expressed doubt over the relevance of some elements of the package for Irish farmers. 'A first impression of these proposals may be of limited direct benefit to Irish farmers,' he said. 'Our family farm structure means that while we have very few very large farms, we equally do not have a large number of very small farms. So the initiatives related to the small farmer scheme are of little benefit to Ireland. 'We need to ensure that the end result delivers some real reduction in the administrative burden for farmers and for member states.' In a later discussion on the EU's deforestation regulation (EUDR), which is due to come into effect next year, Mr Heydon said: 'There remains the potential for significant administrative burden… on primary producers in the beef and our dairy sectors.' He urged the Commission to explore simplified implementation approaches and supported calls to delay enforcement. 'Ireland therefore supports the calls for a further delay in implementation to allow time to address these issues.' ICMSA president Denis Drennan described the Commission's simplification proposals as 'unconvincing' and said the overall 'regulatory tide' shows no sign of easing. 'There's no real confidence in the Commission on this drive for simplification. We've seen and heard it all before and so far from the issues being simplified, they become steadily more cumbersome and complex year-on-year,' said Mr Drennan, who specified the EU Deforestation Regulations as a perfect example of 'talking' about simplification, while 'acting' to make things more complex. IFA president Francie Gorman highlighted last week that this is now the second corrective package on the CAP within a year. 'This fact should serve as a lesson for the future and shape our discussions. Farmers need policies that are coherent, consistent, meaningful and implementable, with greater farmer input throughout, but particularly in design stage,' he said. However, he warned that future simplification efforts must not undermine the common nature of the CAP or open the door to uncontrolled renationalisation. 'That would mark the end of CAP as we know it,' he said.
Agriland
14-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
‘We've heard it all before' – ICMSA on CAP simplification
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association's (ICMSA) president, Dennis Drennan believes that the European Commission's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) simplification proposals are 'unconvincing'. Earlier today (May 14), the commission outlined the measures it will take in order to simplify the CAP and boost farmers' competitiveness. The ICMSA believes, that while the changes may involve some minor improvements for some farmers, the overall 'regulatory tide' shows no sign of easing. According to the ICMSA president, there is 'no real confidence' in the commission's simplification plan. He said: 'We've seen and heard it all before and so far from the issues being simplified, they become steadily more cumbersome and complex year-on-year.' ICMSA Drennan believes that the EU Deforestation Regulations (EUFR) are the 'perfect example' of the EU 'talking' about simplification. The ICMSA president said: 'There were and are several alternatives to the EUFR which were pointed out to both to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the commission. 'It's made no difference, and we are going with yet another raft of new regulations around forestry and livestock.' Drennan believes that the commission should publish the basis for the €1.58 billion savings for EU farmers, which he claims averages €173 per EU farmer and is insignificant set against the cost of compliance borne by farmers on an annual basis. According to the ICMSA president, three of the commission's proposals require additional funding. 'Is there new funding for these 'simplification' proposals or is this the old and discredited 'rob Peter to pay Paul' strategy which has left the CAP chronically underfunded and sliding into irrelevance?' The ICMSA president said he was happy to acknowledge any efforts being made by the commission regarding simplification. However, he said that to date, including today's announcement, farmers had seen little or no benefit and other sections of the EU Commission continue to load regulations on farmers. He said: 'The EU Commission as a simple complete entity, needs to come together and simplify the regulations while still meeting their requirements. It's possible and must be carried through. 'We have overloaded the levels of regulations on farmers on regulation and the reduction in food production across the EU is clear evidence of this. We need real simplification, not tokenism,' he added.
