The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) today warned the Government it faced an uphill struggle in convincing farmers to vote yes in the Nice Treaty referendum.
After almost two hours of talks with the Taoiseach and senior ministers, the President of IFA, Mr John Dillon, said the until the Government addresses "ground issues", such as the CAP review, the nitrates directive and the pressures on farm incomes, it will be difficult to convince farmers to support Nice.
Mr Dillon also sent out a warning to farmers that the acceptance of the Nice Treaty was vital.
"[A no vote] would mean we would lose all influence of the Minister for Agriculture . . . in negotiations. A no vote to Nice would certainly affect the goodwill and respect of member states," Mr Dillon said.
During the meeting, Mr Dillon outlined current difficulties facing farmers such as falling product prices and the recent bad weather. The IFA have predicted the bad weather would add €90 million to the costs of purchasing feed and reduce crop yields.
Mr Dillon said the Government had also given a commitment to oppose any re-negotiation of EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), agreed in 1999, which is due for a mid-term review.
Farmers are worried about CAP reform proposals to be revealed by the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, next week. If accepted the reforms would cut direct funding payments by 20 per cent.
The farmers’ group also was given an assurance that the Government would endeavour to obtain stronger supports from the EU to protect farmer’s interest.
The Government also agreed to work towards resolving difficulties over the Nitrates Directive. It pledged to review the environmental grants scheme, Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS), so the number of participating farmers reached the target of 700,000.
A commitment was also given to implement the Government Programme for Agriculture as soon as possible, particularly grants linked to the Nitrates issue.