Proposed reform of EU farm subsidies could threaten the outcome of the forthcoming referendum on the Nice Treaty unless the concerns of Irish farmers are dealt with, the Minister of State for Finance, Mr Tom Parlon, has warned.
The negotiations on the reform package which would bring fundamental changes in the EU's farm susbsidy system, started last Monday in Brussels.
However, it is unlikely Council of Agriculture Ministers will get down to the details again until September and October which could bring the crucial Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) talks close to the second Nice referendum.
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Parlon said the Commission's mid-term review of the CAP could persuade farmers to reject the treaty.
"It won't help. There will need to be some clarification pre-Nice," he said.
Mr Parlon, a former leader of the Irish Farmers' Association, stressed that it was in farmers' interests to support the treaty.
And he warned that the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, would have a much more difficult task in softening the Commission's CAP reform plans if Ireland voted No to Nice.
"I would hate to be him in a post No to Nice situation. We're not going to stop reform by voting No," he said.
The Commission has proposed sweeping changes to the farm subsidy system that would break the link between subsidies and food production.
Farmers would receive income support regardless of how much food they produce but they would be obliged to protect the environment and uphold food safety standards.
The payments would reduce by 3 per cent each year to a maximum of 20 per cent and no farmer could receive more than €300,000 in direct payments each year.
Mr Parlon said the reform package was being proposed at a time when Irish farmers had seen beef and milk prices fall and bad weather threatened to hit farm incomes.
"Irish farmers are in a bloody-minded mood. They see that there is no certainty about EU policy," he said.
He said the Government would mount a strong opposition to the proposals and warned that the Commission's credibility was at stake.
EU ministers have agreed to fund next year's Special Olympics in Ireland by a further €4 million, Mr Parlon said.
This brings to €6 million the total EU contribution to the tournament's €30 million budget.
The Special Olympics will be held in July.
