Phil Hogan defends decision to publish details farmers’ payments

EU commissioner for agriculture Phil Hogan has defended the decision to publish details of payments to farmers under the single-farm payment scheme, in the coming months.

Farmers have objected to the decision, with some expressing concern that it could leave them open to attack by burglars.

Mr Hogan said the measure had been agreed in 2013 and he had no difficulty with it. “It’s taxpayers’ money and I’m sure other sectors will follow suit in due course.”

However, Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly said publication of the details would encourage envy and jealousy among farmers and would become “increasingly divisive”. He said publication would erode the public’s support for the Common Agricultural Policy throughout Europe.

Independent MEP Marian Harkin echoed this: “It’s going to be so divisive you wouldn’t believe it.”

Under the regulations, all payments made to Common Agriculture Policy beneficiaries in 2014 must be published by member states before May 31st. Some €1.8 billion was paid to 130,000 farmers and rural enterprises under CAP schemes last year.

Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association president John Comer has said he has a major problem with a publicly-accessible list giving the name, address and amount paid to individual farmers at a time when criminal elements are targeting rural residents. The Irish Farmers' Association has also objected, saying it would be an invasion of privacy.

Financial aid

Mr Hogan was speaking to journalists in Brussels, where he also said he was working with the European Investment Bank to see if they could come up with new financial instruments to help young farmers.

“Maybe 12-year loans with reasonable levels of interest, that would give them an opportunity to get access to that essential financial capital that they require to get started on their farm,” he said. “And I expect in 2015 that I’ll be in a position to make announcements in that regard.”

Meanwhile, Mr Hogan said he did not know if Russia would extend its ban on importing EU food produce after the one-year period expires in August. He did not expect the political and security issues that resulted from the ban would be resolved between now and August.

“But that’s what the Russian authorities announced at the time, that this ban on agricultural products was for one year,” he said.

“So I suppose it’s an open question then to know whether they are going to continue with the ban or whether they are going to look at some other options in relation to retaliation against the European Union’s decision to impose sanctions,” he said.

“I wouldn’t like to prejudge the outcome of that. I would hope that the ban could be lifted. I think that the people in Russia are suffering because of the lack of opportunity they have to European food and I think that maybe public opinion might dictate to the Russian authorities that they look carefully at the decision they made last August.”

He also said he was considering the possibility of penalising farmers for farm-safety breaches by reducing their farm payments. “You’d prefer not to have to go down that road so we’ll monitor what’s happening,” he added.