The Government’s aim of securing a deal on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) before Ireland hands over the European presidency at the end of June remains on target, following the agreement of EU agriculture ministers on a negotiating mandate.

Agreement on the proposals was reached between 25 of the 27 member states late on Tuesday night, with Slovenia and Slovakia abstaining from the vote.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney, who chaired the talks, said the strength of the qualified majority given by the council put the presidency in a strong position in the upcoming negotiations with the European Parliament and commission.

"It is difficult to overestimate the scale of last night's achievement, given the range and complexity of issues which had to be addressed by member states," Mr Coveney said on his return from Brussels yesterday. "But I am very conscious that it is only an interim success. We need to move on quickly from here and build on the momentum of the last week which has also seen the European Parliament finalise its position on the Cap reform package."

Discussions
Irish officials in Brussels will now start discussions with the parliament on April 11th. Ireland will represent the European Council in the so-called "trilogue" discussions, with the European Commission and parliament. According to some estimates, up to 30 meetings could be required to thrash out agreement between the different institutions before a scheduled meeting of agriculture ministers in Luxembourg at the end of June.

The new Cap, which has been under discussion since 2010, will determine how farm payments are distributed across the EU between next year and 2020. The overall envelope of money being given over to Cap, which currently represents about 40 per cent of the EU’s budget, is due to be reduced during the next seven-year budgetary framework, with Ireland expecting to received about €1.2 billion instead of €1.5 billion annually.

According to Mr Coveney, under the proposed scheme 60,000 farmers in Ireland would see increases in their payments and 54,000 farmers would see losses.

The European Commission has been trying to shift the way payments are made by moving from a model where the single farm payment is based on production levels in 2000-2002 to a model which pays farmers a flat rate per hectare, regardless of their farming activity.

If approved by the European Parliament and commission, Tuesday night's agreement would give member states flexibility in moving towards the flat-rate based system of payments .

Key gain
This was seen as a key gain for Irish farmers, though farming groups such as the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association and the IFA stressed the need to maintain this position in the negotiations.

The proposal also includes the option of linking about 7 per cent of payments to production, the so-called “coupled payments” system, though this is something the UK in particular is against. It also proposes allowing member states to cap payments in staggered amounts above €150,000.

The ministers also agreed that 30 per cent of the payment would be linked to environmentally sustainable farming.