Hogan: Farmers eligible for aid measures in case of a no-deal Brexit
Irish farmers will be eligible to a suite of aid measures and other financial support in the case of a no-deal Brexit, EU Commissioner Phil Hogan has announced.
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Hogan said farmers in Ireland and other EU countries will be eligible for a “mix of some or all of public intervention, private storage aid, withdrawal schemes and targeted aid will form the package of support”.
Most significantly, Mr Hogan said the Commission is “looking at state aid rules, in which case it will be for the Member States to provide support”.
“Just recently, the Commission adopted a new Regulation which has provided for an increase of 66% in the level of de minimis support that can be granted in the agricultural sector through state aid,” he said.
Irish farmers are likely to be among those most negatively affected by a no-deal Brexit, which is currently due to happen on Friday, but Mr Hogan said there is “still time for common sense to prevail”.
This scenario may yet be averted, bearing in mind the shared commitment to protect the Good Friday Agreement and avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland,” he said.
Speaking as the EU's chief Brexit negotiator arrived in Dublin and British Prime Minister Theresa May was in Berlin to meet Angela Merkel ahead of a meeting with Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Mr Hogan said a no-deal scenario would have “significant disruption to certain agricultural markets”.
“We have to come to the conclusion that the European Commission has a legal obligation to intervene and we will. Early intervention has the benefit of providing not alone support to our farmers, but gives confidence to the market of the Commission's commitment to the agri-food sector and avoids the development of a potentially much bigger crisis in the longer-term,” he said.
He warned that Britain in a no-deal scenario is prepared to slap “relatively high tariffs on a number of animal products, such as beef, poultry, pigmeat and cheese as well as such products as sugar and rice”.
“It is clear that a number of Member States will bear the brunt of these proposed tariffs, because of their exposure already to the UK market for those products,” he added.
