Letter from Brussels - January 2024

The weather changes overnight in April and October or, at least, it feels like that. Right now, the cold would go through you as the saying goes. But things are going to heat up soon enough for around 700 MEPs as they go canvassing for re-election to the European Parliament. Already some MEPs are sub-letting their flats in the Belgian capital as they don their walking shoes.

One MEP was overheard before Christmas trying to sub-let their apartment to somebody who was looking to rent a new abode in January. “It is only for eight months,” said the MEP, to which the potential renter replied, “You sound confident, from what I am hearing, I’ll be able to lease it from you for a lot longer than that!” In other words, the chances of the MEP being returned are between slim and none. 

European elections are tricky to predict. Of all the elections we vote in, people probably place the least value on these. But in my first 12 months here, I have seen firsthand the important role that the European Parliament plays. There was a time when it was easy to scoff that MEPs were on a big jolly in Brussels. Times have changed. Ireland will be getting one extra MEP in the next parliament because of the increase in our population. That means we will have 14 MEPs out of a total of 715. It puts into context just how small Ireland is. We like to think we are important and that everybody has a soft spot for the Irish. And while that is the case, we should no longer be under any illusion that we will get special treatment. 

Farmers are still seething about how the Nitrates Derogation played out and there was a sense in some circles that the EU should have been kinder to us. That day is gone. There are 22 million farmers in Europe all thinking the same way. Whatever hope we have of of our voice being heard, it can only happen if we elect MEPs who are committed to protecting the family-farm model of Irish farming. The turnout on election day in European elections is always around the 50 per cent mark, way down on general-election turnout. But if I was a farmer, I would be placing as much value on my EU vote as my Dáil vote. 

MEPs are co-decision-makers when it comes to EU legislation and there is plenty of legislation coming down the tracks under the EU Green Deal. Farmers are arguably more impacted by the decisions made in Brussels than any other industry. So, it goes without saying that farmers and their families should think about that when casting their votes. If I was a farmer, I would be looking at the candidate’s credentials when it comes to their knowledge and vision for farming more than what party (or none) that they are running for. When they go to Brussels, they join like-minded political groupings anyway. It might be no harm to find out what political grouping our MEPs are aligned to, to give you a sense of how their larger group approaches agricultural issues as they are whipped by the larger grouping the way they are in the Dail. Election day is in June. If you are a farmer, you’d be mad not to vote.