Interview with Ricard Ramon

Recorded at the recent Forum for the Future of Agriculture Regional event in Dublin, Rose O’Donovan interviewed Ricard Ramon, Head of Unit for Policy Perspectives at DG AGRI, about the current state of the negotiations with the CAP. Joining online, Mr Ramon said a minimum CAP budget of around 300 billion euros is established to 2034, with significant additional resources available: a requirement that 10% of unallocated funds be spent in rural areas, worth around 48 billion euros, and a further 45 billion euros could be moved to agriculture, if spent early in the period. He highlighted that it is very important to continue to put a big focus on support for farmers’ incomes – the key is matching the right type of support to the right need, whether direct payments, investment, technology or risk management.