Managing Europe From Home: The Europeanisation of the Irish ...

affected by the growing emphasis on environmental issues and the increasingly
interlinked debate about food safety, environmental issues and farming methods.
This poses an additional challenge to the Department in terms of both internal coordination
and structures and managing such issues across the core executive
system. According to the 2001-2003 Departmental Strategy Statement, the
challenge for D/AFRD is to ensure that the particular needs of Ireland are
successfully addressed in these negotiations.
The Department interacts intensively with the EU, both Council and Commission
(both DG Agriculture and for food safety DG Health and Consumer Affairs), through
the monthly meetings of the Agriculture Council, the weekly meetings of the Special
Committee on Agriculture (SCA), management committees for all of the agricultural
products, and all committees and bilateral mechanisms dealing with the payments
and auditing dimension of the CAP. The CAP impacts on all levels of administration
and policy formulation throughout the Department, from secretary general down to
the technical staff who implement the programmes on the ground.
In 1999 it was envisaged that the Department would undergo a process of
reorganisation that would involve a streamlining of its then fifty-five divisions (units
headed by a Principal Officer) into three organizational poles – policy development,
FEOGA payments, and food safety and production. In 2001 the Department put in
place a new organizational structure, which was intended to establish logical and
clear lines of management consistent with the changing mandate of the Department
(see figure 8). In the new structure, the eleven functional areas (63 individual
units/sections), each headed by a member of the Management Committee, have
been redefined, and are now grouped under four broad organizational headings –
policy (200 staff), food safety and production (2000 staff), agriculture payments
(1500 staff) and corporate development (600 staff). Within the Department, the
EU/Trade Division is found within the EU and Planning Division of the Policy heading
and coordinates policy on all EU issues, including WTO issues and bilateral trade
matters. The EU/Trade Division undertakes policy analysis, negotiates at EU level for
regulatory and trading frameworks for the Irish agri-food sector, maintains relations
with the EU institutions and other member states through bilateral contacts. The
Division also coordinates briefings for Council and SCA meetings and Coreper, as well
as bilateral meetings. In addition, the division coordinates briefings for the Article