company, Irish Water, would be set up in the autumn to oversee the process of installing meters in all domestic dwellings. That would pave the way, he said, for domestic water charges in two years' time based on household usage. The new charges would be the first form of property tax to be introduced, since the then Fianna Fáil government led by Jack Lynch abolished domestic rates in 1977. EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner On 10 September 2014, Hogan was nominated by Jean-Claude Juncker to be the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development taking office on 1 November. As Commissioner, Hogan stipulated that his priorities would be to "ensuring that rural development spending is well integrated into jobs- and growth-generating investment strategies at national and regional level". Diplomatic Offensive In 2016, Hogan embarked on a "diplomatic offensive" to build trade relations with non-EU states throughout the world and build new markets for European producers. So far, this has involved trade missions abroad to Mexico and Colombia, with trips to Japan, China and Kazakhstan scheduled for later in the year. Trade delegations of EU agri-businesses have accompanied the Commissioner on these trips to build relationships with third country counterparts. Mercosur trade deal In 2019 a free trade deal with Mercosur caused controversy in Ireland, with the farm lobby fearing competition from low-cost South American meat imports. Some of Hogan's Fine Gael colleagues suggested denying his expected reappointment to the incoming commission because of his involvement in the negotiations. Conclusion of term In mid-September 2019, the Juncker Commission handed the reins of power over to Ursula von der Leyen and her College of Commissioners, ending Hogan's term of office as Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner. EU Trade Commissioner Von der Leyen's proposal of Hogan as EU Trade Commissioner went smoothly through the EU Parliament when he "made clear that tackling China’s unfair trade practices will be a major challenge during his five-year mandate." while he said that he would "work to conclude" the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment by the end of 2020. There was alarm in Parliament about the growing number of Chinese takeovers in the high-tech arena. Hogan was to "take over as EU Trade Commissioner in November after the Parliament’s plenary confirms the full commission in a vote scheduled for 23 October." On 1 December, one month later than had originally been scheduled, Hogan, who was 59