EU farm ministers were last night in tough negotiations on an amended document on CAP reform put forward by Commissioner Franz Fischler to the council meeting. Sean MacConnell, Agriculture Correspondent, reports.
The compromise paper which diluted some of Dr Fischler's original proposals on decoupling production from direct payments and suggested a longer time scale for cutting direct payments, found no favour with either the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, or farm organisations. He told the farm organisations before going into last night's negotiations, that while there had been significant movement by the Commission the compromise document was still "far from satisfactory".
"The cuts in the dairy sector are still far too drastic and go a lot further than those proposed in Agenda 2000," he said.
He said he would be seeking clarification from Dr Fischler on his amended proposal to allow 30 per cent of beef production to remain uncoupled and assurances that all the money taken away from direct payments would go back into agriculture through rural development schemes.
The initial reaction from the farm organisations was uncompromising with IFA president, Mr John Dillon, describing the amended proposal as "a devastating blow to dairy farm incomes".
Mr Dillon said the dairy proposals including butter price cuts of up to 32 per cent would reduce milk prices to producers by over 25 per cent, with only half of this being compensated for. Irish dairy farmers would suffer a net price cut of over 10p a gallon, which would mean a direct income cut of over €150 million per year from price cuts alone.
Mr Dillon said the proposal allowing 30 per cent of the beef single payment to be paid as a suckler cow or livestock unit top up could be built upon, but there must be more flexibility to target resources to active producers.
The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, Mr Pat O'Rourke, said the compromise was worse than the original proposals and had to be rejected by Ireland. He urged the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to raise the CAP proposals as an issue of vital interest at the heads of government summit.
Macra na Feirme president, Mr Thomas Honner, has said Minister Walsh should not accept the latest compromise paper on CAP reform from Dr Fischler.
Mr Honner believes the document is particularly bad for dairy farmers
"The price cuts of 8 per cent per annum for the next four years on the dairy side are totally unacceptable and should be rejected by the Minister," he said. The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society director general, Mr John Tyrell, urged the Minister to reject the compromise because it would still be very damaging for the milk sector in Ireland.
"These proposals will still cost the milk sector and dairy farmers the equivalent of an approximate 25 per cent price reduction over the 2004-2007 period, compared with an approximate 16 per cent reduction agreed under Agenda 2000," he said. The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association urged the Minister to reject the idea of partial beef decoupling and opt for the 100 per cent option.
As the negotiations got underway last night it emerged that France still has a serious problem with the whole concept of reform. French officials were quoted as saying that the proposals could never be accepted in France, especially the yearly cuts in subsidies from 2005.
The Irish and French delegations have been working closely together to harness common opposition to the reforms.