Commission adopts €3.357bn ‘Partnership Agreement’ with Ireland

November 24, 2014 Oliver Moore Latest from EU Member States, Recent updates

ireland nasa public domain photo by Jeff Schmaltz — "Ireland" (c) nasa public domain photo by Jeff Schmaltz

All 28 Member States of the EU have now signed Rural Development partnership agreements with the EU Commission. Ireland’s partnership agreement was the last of 28 to be adopted.

In Ireland around €2.19 billion is being allocated for the development of the agricultural sector and rural areas from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

According to the EU Commission: “Actions aimed at preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency, in line with Europe 2020 – Climate Change/Energy targets and also aligned with the objectives of the National Spatial Strategy 2002-2020, will be a cornerstone in the ESI funded programmes for Ireland.”

Other monies allocated to Ireland include: An additional €1.143 billion will be devoted to Cohesion Policy (ERDF and ESF (including YEI)) including €68.1 million for the Youth Employment Initiative and €168.9 million for European territorial cooperation. The allocation from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) amounts to some €147.6 million.

See table below from the EU Commission on Ireland’s spending by category.

Thematic Objective	Total Funding
Strengthening research, technological development and innovation	186,992,153
Enhancing access to, and use and quality of, ICT	75,000,000
Enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs, of the agricultural sector (for the EAFRD) and of the fishery and aquaculture sector (for the EMFF)	283,881,587
Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors	433,500,000
Promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management	704,800,000
Preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency	838,370,392
Promoting sustainable and quality employment and supporting labour mobility	307,325,622
Promoting social inclusion, combating poverty and any discrimination	350,807,784
Investing in education, training and vocational training for skills and lifelong learning	160,698,574
Technical assistance	17,606,529
Total	3,357,982,641

Comment:

Ireland’s spending choices have been described as being mostly – 80% – focused on environment and climate-related actions. Technically, this may well be true. However Ireland is heavily invested in producing very large quantities of meat and milk, and it plans to grow these sectors significantly in the coming years.

This is inevitably difficult to do, when compared to other food options, in a climate change sensitive way. Ireland also led the change in having climate change targets essentially written out of the EU’s emissions reductions targets.

More from EU Commisison on Rural Development Plans

Decisions taken by Member States for the implementation of the new direct support system – State of play

Ireland’s Partnership Agreement summary

QandA on Partnership Agreements

About Oliver Moore 216 Articles

Dr. Oliver Moore is the communications director and editor-in-chief with ARC2020. He has a PhD in the sociology of farming and food, where he specialised in organics and direct sales. He is published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies, International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology and the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. A weekly columnist and contributor with Irish Examiner, he is a regular on Countrywide (Irish farm radio show on the national broadcaster RTE 1) and engages in other communications work around agri-food and rural issues, such as with the soil, permaculture, climate change adaptation and citizen science initiative Grow Observatory . He lectures part time in the Centre for Co-operative Studies UCC.

A propos d'Oliver Moore
Oliver voyage beaucoup moins qu’auparavant, pour ce qui concerne son activité professionnelle. Il peut néanmoins admirer par la fenêtre de son bureau les mésanges charbonnières et les corbeaux perchés au sommet du saule dans le jardin de sa maison au cœur de l’écovillage de Cloughjordan, en Irlande. L’écovillage est un site de 67 acres dans le nord du Tipperary. Il comprend d’espaces boisés, des paysages comestibles, des lieux de vie, d’habitation et de travail, ainsi qu’une ferme appartenant à la communauté. Les jours où il travaille dans le bureau du centre d’entreprise communautaire, il profite d’une vue sur les chevaux, les panneaux solaires, les toilettes sèches et les jardins familiaux.

Ce bureau au sein de l’écovillage constitue en effet un tiers-lieu de travail accueillant également des collaborateurs des associations Cultivate et Ecolise, ainsi qu’un laboratoire de fabrication (« fab lab »).

Oliver est membre du conseil d’administration de la ferme communautaire (pour la seconde fois !) et donne également des cours sur le Master en coopératives, agroalimentaire et développement durable à l’University College Cork. Il a une formation en sociologie rurale : son doctorat et les articles qu’il publie dans des journaux scientifiques portent sur ce domaine au sens large.

Il consacre la majorité de son temps de travail à l’ARC 2020. Il collabore avec ARC depuis 2013, date à laquelle l’Irlande a assuré la présidence de l’UE pendant six mois. C’est là qu’il a pu constater l’importance de la politique agroalimentaire et rurale grâce à sa chronique hebdomadaire sur le site d’ARC. Après six mois, il est nommé rédacteur en chef et responsable de la communication, poste qu’il occupe toujours aujourd’hui. Oliver supervise le contenu du site web et des médias sociaux, aide à définir l’orientation de l’organisation et parfois même rédige un article pour le site web.

À l’époque où on voyageait davantage, il a eu la chance de passer du temps sous les tropiques, où il a aidé des ONG irlandaises de commerce équitable – au Ghana, au Kenya, au Mali, en Inde et au Salvador – à raconter leur histoire.

Il se peut que ces jours-là reviennent. Pour son compte Oliver continuera de préférer naviguer en Europe par bateau, puis en train. Après tout, la France n’est qu’à une nuit de navigation. En attendant, il y a toujours de nombreuses possibilités de bénévolat dans la communauté dans les campagnes du centre de l’Irlande.