Speaker for Tuesday 5th November 2013 - Mr. Clarke Black
07/11/13 11:36
Photo: President Graham Kane greets Clarke Black, with (L) Speakers Co-ordinator John McHenry, along with Club Member Jim Hillis (R)
Talk by Clarke Black on the 'Farmers Union in the European Community'
Club President Graham Kane welcomed club members as well as guests Norman Gallagher and John McKegney to the meeting. Graham then thanked Vice President Gordon Ward for standing in as chair for last weeks meeting and then introduced our speaker for the morning Mr. Clarke Black. Mr. Black gave a highly informative talk on the Northern Ireland Farmers Union and it's role in the European Community.
Clarke began his talk with a short history and outline of the Farmers Union (FU), which founded in 1918. The Union has over 12,000 members and has close links with the National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance - together employing 86 staff. The FU also shares an office in Brussels, right at the heart of the European Union.
Farming plays a major role in the economy of Northern Ireland. With over One Million hectares (100 hectares = 1 sq km) of farmed land in NI, it accounts for 67% of the area. With over 25,000 farms employing more than 50,000 people, and contributing over £4 Billion a year, it is a vital to our economy.
Clarke went on to give a break down of how the 'European Community' worked and was structured - from the European Commission and the European Council (not to be confused as they are different), down through the 'Civil Service' layers of bureaucracy and the FU office (near the bottom!). However, that doesn't make the office powerless. It can, and does most effectively, lobby and give advice to the commission and the council, on all matters agricultural. The office also has direct contact with the European Parliament (EP). All these different levels of power within the EU need different ways of approaching them for positive results!
Clarke then gave a rundown of the structure of the EP and how its members were divided into different and diverse groups. The big question then was: is the EU really important for NI Agriculture and would we be better off without it! For Clarke, the 'Pros' were mainly: it is the 2nd biggest funder to the NI economy (after the UK Gov); it provides over £420 in grants to farmers each year; it helps us to export around 80% of our produce each year. The 'Cons' include; increased cost to farmers (to comply the EU standards); constraints of trade agreements; lack of flexibility (what may be good for one country may not be for another). So is it worth it? (was a question asked by members at the meeting) Clarke said that you had to ask yourself if, in the end, you didn't pay to be in the EU, would the national government give out as much help/subsidy as the EU, or would they spend the money elsewhere - like troops, arms, airports, high speed rail etc. - possible not!
In the next section of his talk, Clarke went on to show (and discuss) a break down of the EU budget, all £127bn of it, and how that was made up. In relative terms, that budget represented about 1% of the national income.
Finally Clarke told us about the ideas behind the 'Common Agricultural Policy'; these included: Help to feed a global population of 9bn by 2050; Employment for around 40m people; Market stability; Sustainable production; Combating climate change; and many other factors.
This fascinating and highly enjoyable talk was followed by an all too short Question and Answer session; such was the interest, we could have been at the meeting another hour or more. However, among the topics raised were: Produce labels saying EU product, when they were not - work is going on to improve this, but that means more regulation! We get the impression that Southern Ireland farmers do better out of EU than NI farmers - not really the case: they had a lower standard to start from and we've all gained for improvement grants and infrastructure schemes for Ireland. Is there a GM issue across Europe - this is proving a big and growing problem that will increase over the next few years, as even now it is almost impossible to get chicken feed that doesn't contain GM corn, watch this space! Is the UK over active in applying EU rules - possibly, compared to say Italy, they are more 'relaxed'. How about 'food dumping' - this is mainly due to supermarkets, that insist on certain size / shape produce, it's so very wasteful.
A vote of thanks was proposed by John McHenry who, noting that the club had no actual farming members, congratulated Clarke for providing us with one of the most interesting, informative and educational talks we had had for a long time. It was excellently presented and held the members' attention throughout. This was passed on by the Vice President. The members showed their appreciation.
Talk by Clarke Black on the 'Farmers Union in the European Community'
Club President Graham Kane welcomed club members as well as guests Norman Gallagher and John McKegney to the meeting. Graham then thanked Vice President Gordon Ward for standing in as chair for last weeks meeting and then introduced our speaker for the morning Mr. Clarke Black. Mr. Black gave a highly informative talk on the Northern Ireland Farmers Union and it's role in the European Community.
Clarke began his talk with a short history and outline of the Farmers Union (FU), which founded in 1918. The Union has over 12,000 members and has close links with the National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance - together employing 86 staff. The FU also shares an office in Brussels, right at the heart of the European Union.
Farming plays a major role in the economy of Northern Ireland. With over One Million hectares (100 hectares = 1 sq km) of farmed land in NI, it accounts for 67% of the area. With over 25,000 farms employing more than 50,000 people, and contributing over £4 Billion a year, it is a vital to our economy.
Clarke went on to give a break down of how the 'European Community' worked and was structured - from the European Commission and the European Council (not to be confused as they are different), down through the 'Civil Service' layers of bureaucracy and the FU office (near the bottom!). However, that doesn't make the office powerless. It can, and does most effectively, lobby and give advice to the commission and the council, on all matters agricultural. The office also has direct contact with the European Parliament (EP). All these different levels of power within the EU need different ways of approaching them for positive results!
Clarke then gave a rundown of the structure of the EP and how its members were divided into different and diverse groups. The big question then was: is the EU really important for NI Agriculture and would we be better off without it! For Clarke, the 'Pros' were mainly: it is the 2nd biggest funder to the NI economy (after the UK Gov); it provides over £420 in grants to farmers each year; it helps us to export around 80% of our produce each year. The 'Cons' include; increased cost to farmers (to comply the EU standards); constraints of trade agreements; lack of flexibility (what may be good for one country may not be for another). So is it worth it? (was a question asked by members at the meeting) Clarke said that you had to ask yourself if, in the end, you didn't pay to be in the EU, would the national government give out as much help/subsidy as the EU, or would they spend the money elsewhere - like troops, arms, airports, high speed rail etc. - possible not!
In the next section of his talk, Clarke went on to show (and discuss) a break down of the EU budget, all £127bn of it, and how that was made up. In relative terms, that budget represented about 1% of the national income.
Finally Clarke told us about the ideas behind the 'Common Agricultural Policy'; these included: Help to feed a global population of 9bn by 2050; Employment for around 40m people; Market stability; Sustainable production; Combating climate change; and many other factors.
This fascinating and highly enjoyable talk was followed by an all too short Question and Answer session; such was the interest, we could have been at the meeting another hour or more. However, among the topics raised were: Produce labels saying EU product, when they were not - work is going on to improve this, but that means more regulation! We get the impression that Southern Ireland farmers do better out of EU than NI farmers - not really the case: they had a lower standard to start from and we've all gained for improvement grants and infrastructure schemes for Ireland. Is there a GM issue across Europe - this is proving a big and growing problem that will increase over the next few years, as even now it is almost impossible to get chicken feed that doesn't contain GM corn, watch this space! Is the UK over active in applying EU rules - possibly, compared to say Italy, they are more 'relaxed'. How about 'food dumping' - this is mainly due to supermarkets, that insist on certain size / shape produce, it's so very wasteful.
A vote of thanks was proposed by John McHenry who, noting that the club had no actual farming members, congratulated Clarke for providing us with one of the most interesting, informative and educational talks we had had for a long time. It was excellently presented and held the members' attention throughout. This was passed on by the Vice President. The members showed their appreciation.
(Secretary, Mike Turner)
