As Agriculture Ministers battle it out in Brussels over reforming the Common Agricultural Policy - or CAP - we look at what is in it and what it means for farmers.

EU Ministers have resumed their 2-day meeting with the focus of discussions on reform to payments under the CAP system. It is believed a compromised proposal on the reforms will be presented to EU ministers at the meeting.

It is being billed as a 'crucial meeting' at which the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney hopes to agree "a comprehensive Council position on the CAP reform package". He says achieving an agreement "will allow the process to move on to the next stage of the negotiations, involving the European Parliament and the Commission, and will bring one step closer the objective of concluding an overall political agreement by the end of June".

'Clear and decisive step'

CAP payments are worth around €1.5 billion to the Irish economy every year. Minister Coveney has called on member states to take a clear and decisive step towards a new CAP framework.

He has made it clear that his primary objective under the Irish EU Presidency is to secure what is known as a Council general approach on the entire CAP reform package by the end of March.

"I am not underestimating the scale of the challenge...it is indeed a significant one given the range and complexity of issues that are still on the table" he said. "However, in another sense it is also a very straightforward one, because in the end it boils down to the ability to compromise" he added.

Watch a report on the CAP below: