The Irish Presidency should be deeply embarrassed that there were no red lines when it comes to protecting investment in a sustainable, green economy, according to the Green Party.

Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan responded to leaked details of the new EU budget. He said: "It is a shame that under our watch the budget has steered the European Union away from a greener future.

"The last minute cuts to the CAP's rural development funding suggest that Minister Simon Coveney does not understand or appreciate the potential of green policies for Irish economic recovery. The draft budget specifies that member states will be free to choose measures they would like to define as 'Green' for the purposes of the CAP. This is a mandate for the green-washing in a food industry which already has difficulty in telling the difference between selling beef and serving up horse.

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"The European Union talks a lot about the lead we are taking in tackling climate change but the biggest cuts in the budget were made in the Connecting Europe Facility which could have provided the energy, transport and communications infrastructure for long term cuts in emissions.

"Minister Phil Hogan said in the Dáil that we needed to get the balance right in meeting both the challenges and the opportunities that will come from tackling climate change. The reality is that our Government is ignoring the whole green agenda both here at home and in our Presidency of the European Council. The cuts to green budget lines in the final haggling over the outcome to the Multiannual Financial Framework shows that up more than anything else."

(CD/GK)