EU’s budget for Cap must be increased, says Eddie Punch

SPENDING on the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) must increase significantly to ensure food security and reimburse ‘short-changed’ farmers, an Ireland South election candidate said.

Independent Ireland candidate for Ireland South, Eddie Punch, said Cap spending, as a percentage of EU GDP, has fallen from 0.54% in the 1990s to 0.36% in 2022. 

‘That’s short-changing farmers at a time when production costs have escalated.

The next EU parliament will have to strongly campaign for increased CAP spending, if we want to take food security seriously,’ he said.

Mr Punch said negotiations next year on the EU budget will show how serious governments are about Cap reform because it requires member states to increase contributions.   

Mr Punch said the Common Agricultural Policy costs 33c per day for every citizen of the EU which he called ‘remarkable value for plentiful, nutritious food’.

He said the EU had a net trade surplus of €70bn for agri-food products in 2023 while the CAP is actually costing €56bn per annum.

‘That means that we are essentially getting EU food for free, in terms of public expenditure and the EU economy,’ he said.

‘The problem is that this is not translating into farm incomes and unless this is fixed, we are rapidly heading towards a scenario where very few young farmers will take on the job of feeding the EU. ‘