The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget needs to be increased and adjusted to inflation, and simplified, according to an Irish MEP.

Maria Walsh, who is a member of European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, has submitted over 30 amendments to the committee’s report on the future of agriculture and the post-2027 CAP.

The Midlands-North West MEP has called for a fully inflation-adjusted CAP budget, targeted aid payments, and tailored co-financing for rural development measures.

She also stressed the importance of safeguarding the strategic importance of the farming sector in the EU and called for practical tools to support further CAP simplification.

MEP Walsh said that her amendments "aim to deliver long-term income stability and business certainty for Irish farmers".

"The CAP budget has failed to keep pace with economic growth, with inflation ravaging the incomes of farmers over the past few years.

"If we are serious about ensuring food security across Ireland and the EU, we must ensure the CAP budget is increased and adjusted for inflation - as reflected in my proposals," she said.

The Fine Gael MEP added that "family farms remain the backbone of rural Ireland".

"They are not just economic drivers; they are food producers and custodians of the land. I’ve proposed targeted CAP aid payments to support these farms, which are often the most vulnerable to market volatility and policy shifts.

"Moving the goalposts costs farmers time and money, and requires national governments to adapt to new systems which can often lead to delays in payments.

"One of my key proposals stresses the need for stable and consistent policies that allow farmers to plan, invest, and grow with confidence," she said.

Walsh also called on the European Commission to provide tools that help member states implement the CAP more easily and to share best practices in order to avoid distortions and divergent approaches that could potentially disadvantage farmers.

“Ultimately, the CAP must be fair. To ensure a level playing field amongst farmers across the EU, I submitted a proposal emphasising the need to preserve the commonality of the CAP.

"Diverging national approaches risk undermining the fairness and unity at the heart of European agricultural policy," she said.