The CAP budget is the key, Creed tells EU Ministers as negotiations over reform continue

The Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed has stressed to his fellow EU Agriculture Minister's that securing an adequate budget is critical to the future Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
Under plans for the EU’s budget for 2021-2027, farmers would receive around €232 billion in direct support, a drop of more than €30 billion from the current seven-year budget.
Minster Creed has been actively engaging with counterparts from France, Spain, Finland, Portugal and Greece, who have all called for the restoration of the CAP budget for the 2021 – 2027 period to current levels.
Up to 20 Member States have joined this alliance and Minister Creed has said the group will continue to work together in an effort to build consensus on this point.
Addressing fellow Ministers for Agriculture today, he said there is one key issue. That is to ensure an adequate budget for the entire CAP.
"The CAP budget is the key," he warned fellow Ministers.
The last EU budget negotiations went down to the wire, taking two and a half years of haggling. Member States and the European Parliament are set for tough talks, with hopes of an agreement in the autumn.
Germany and France, the biggest paymasters putting in 19pc and 17pc of the budget respectively, are ready to plug some of the Brexit gap if the budget suits their new priorities.