Opening Statementby Mr Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Tuesday, 20 January 2015

Rural Development Programme (CAP Pillar 2)

Introduction

I would like to begin by thanking the Committee for the invitation to address it today on the approval process for the new Rural Development Programme (RDP) spanning the period 2014 to 2020. I am very pleased to have this opportunity to fulfil a commitment that I made on the Dáil floor last December to appraise the committee on the progress being made by my Department in securing agreement with the EU Commission on the approval of the draft RDP.

I must emphasise at the outset that RDP approval is a formal legal process and has been the highest priority for my Department since it submitted the draft Programme last July. The proposed measures contained in the draft RDP have been the subject ofdetailed, lengthy and rigorous scrutiny by the Commission.The approval process is ongoing and my Department is currently engaged in a series of ongoing bilateral meetings with Commission officials.

Programme Content

The total financial allocation for the new Programme will total some €4 billion in EU and national funding over its lifetime.By any standard, this level of investment is a strong statement of the Government’s commitment to developing the potential of the rural economy generally and the farming sector in particular. Programme expenditure will be a key element in enhancing the competitiveness of the agri-food sector, achieving more sustainable management of natural resources and ensuring a more balanced development of rural areasin line with overall CAP objectives.

The proposed measures in the new Programme were framed in light of the experience of the previous Programme and were developed over a period of 18 months following an extensive stakeholder consultation exercise, a number of preparatory analyses and an independent ex-ante evaluation.

The draft RDP includes:

  • GLAS – a substantial new agri-environment scheme worth €1.4 billion over the Programme period – and a number of other targeted environmental measures;
  • continued strong support for Areas of Natural Constraint (formerly Disadvantaged Areas)amounting to some €195m per year;
  • significant support for on-farm capital investment which will total €395m;
  • a range of knowledge transfer measures across various sectors;
  • support for collaborative farming;
  • targeted support for the beef sector by means of an innovative Beef Data and Genomics Programme; and
  • Support for wider rural development issues via the provision of €250m funding for the continuation of LEADER.

The Approval Process

Following the submission of Ireland’s RDP, the EU Commission provided their formal observations on the draft on 20th October. I understand that the members of the Committee have been provided with the details of these observations. The receipt of these formal observations in effect opened the formal process of bilateral discussions with the Commission on the draft RDP.

Meetings between officials of my Department and the Commission services are taking place on an almost weekly basis but it is difficult to be definitive about the likely duration of these discussions given the demands on Commission resources and the need for the Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development to co-ordinate with several other Directorates General that have commented on the draft RDP.

The protracted nature of the approval process is alsolinked to the Commissions’ workload in examining 118 RDPs in accordance with stringent legal requirements on the justification for proposed measures and the need for sound financial management of public funds.

While all Programmes are subject to the same approval procedures, the timescale for approval will obviously vary depending on the complexity, scale and scope of individual Programmes. Following agreement on a Member State’s national or regional Programme, a draft RDP must go through a formal adoption process in the Commission.

Commissioner Hogan has, however, recently announced that the Commission will provide letters of comfort to Member States whose RDPs have been agreed with the Commission but are awaiting the full formal and legal adoption of the Programme. This development should facilitate the earlier implementation of RDP schemes and supports across Member States.

Giventhe need for continuity in relation to RDP schemes between Programming periods, my overriding goal now is to expedite the approval process.

Details of the Commission’s Observations

In terms of the content of the observations received from the Commission, a total of 266 observations was received incorporating a range of informational, technical, legal and policy issues. This level of feedback from the Commission is not out of line with the observations received in other Member States, and in fact in many cases the number of observations received on our draft RDP was less than other Member States. It is also important to note that the feedback received, and the follow up discussions, incorporate the views of all the relevant Directorates General in the Commission and not just those of the Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Development.

A significant element of the exchange of information to date with the Commission has been in relation to some of the technical and legal issues raised in their observations. In many cases these have been easily addressed, and can be rectified in the new draft of the RDP. For instance, in a number of cases the Commission has highlighted the need to reference particular EU regulations or to update particular pieces of data provided and in response my Department has made the necessary amendments.

Similarly, the Commission has raised a number of queries for further background and explanatory information. For example, the Commission has requested explanatory material in relation to many of the background chapters which are included in the RDP such as the SWOT and Needs Analyses, and this material has been forwarded to the Commission.

As the flagship scheme within the RDP, much of the bilateral discussions have focused on the GLAS scheme. The bilateral discussions have covered in detail the targeted structure of the Scheme, and the Commission has gone through all the individual actions in the Scheme to examine the underlying logic, the costings, and the need for all actions to go above baseline. These discussions have been very productive and the Commission is broadly supportive of the approach being taken. There are some issues which are still under discussion, such as the control and prioritisation of expenditure, including the issue of maximum payments, and the approach to controlling low input actions. But very real progress has been made in recent weeks.

The proposed Beef Data and Genomics Programme has also been the subject of intensive discussions. This Scheme is included in the RDP as a climate change measure, and the bona fides of the climate change benefits arising from the scheme have been the subject of rigorous scrutiny. At this stage, we are happy that the Commission accept the basis for the Scheme and discussionsare now at an advanced stage in relation to the more technical aspects of Scheme implementation.

Conclusion

Intensive negotiations with the Commission are ongoing and my Department has provided a range of requested information and clarifications to the Commission in relation to their observations and queries. Further meetings to clarify outstanding issues are scheduled to take place over the coming weeks. The successful completion of this approval process is very much my priority in order to ensure that the range of schemes contained in our draft RDP can be rolled out to underpin development and growth in Rural Ireland.

ENDS

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