European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen has told Macra, Ireland's young farmers' organisation, that he is committed to pushing for 10% of Common Agricultural Policy funding to be ring-fenced for young farmers. He made the commitment in a meeting with Macra national president Josephine O'Neill and National Agricultural Affairs Committee chair James McElearney on the third day of the National Ploughing Championships.

Macra had demanded a commitment on ring-fenced generational renewal funding, which Hansen described as a key part of the current CAP negotiations. The organisation also pressed the case for the Commission's proposed starter pack for young farmers in the next CAP, with a mandatory succession scheme, and for installation aid to become a compulsory element.

"Ireland is currently the only EU member state without installation aid, and this puts our young farmers at a significant disadvantage compared to their EU counterparts," O'Neill said. Hansen replied that he had supported installation aid in earlier CAP negotiations and would keep pushing for it to be mandatory after 2027.

Macra also put to the commissioner its proposed definition of an active farmer — someone who takes responsibility for day-to-day management and carries the financial and production risk of the business — and repeated its call for subsidised farm relief services under the next CAP, in line with the Commission's own proposals.

The meeting followed Macra's welcome for the EU's suspension of Brazilian beef, poultry and other animal product imports, in force since September 3 over concerns about Brazil's compliance with EU rules on antimicrobials in food-producing animals. O'Neill said the suspension "must be more than a temporary measure", called for rigorous verification before exports resume, and said the decision "reinforces why Macra remains firmly opposed to the EU-Mercosur trade agreement". Joe Griffin reported for Agriland.

Source: Agriland