WIREDGOV

The European Commission has agreed to work with Scotland to seek a resolution on the coupled support issue.

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead spoke on the phone with Commissioner Ciolos to voice his concerns over last week’s u-turn, and received assurances from the Commissioner that he understands the frustration over the situation and has asked his officials to continue to look for a solution.

The European reversal denied Scotland the ability to direct Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding towards priority areas of Scottish agriculture.

Scottish and European officials will now hold discussions next week to discuss the next steps, and Mr Lochhead will also have a face to face meeting with the Commissioner shortly thereafter.

Mr Lochhead said:

“I spoke to Commissioner Ciolos on the phone today and expressed my, and Scotland’s, profound displeasure and disappointment at what has happened.

“I have received assurances from the Commissioner that there will be further meetings to see whether anything can be salvaged from this unacceptable situation that we find ourselves in.

“In the meantime, we need the UK Government to step in and help Scotland to get this situation sorted. Given Defra’s pledge to allow us flexibility on coupled support as an apparent concession for not giving Scotland its £190 million convergence budget uplift, I fully expect them to give us their complete backing in finding a solution to this.

"Indeed, the Commission made it clear that UK Ministers negotiated the constraints we now find ourselves bound by and we need their support to get us out of it.

“I wrote to Defra Secretary of State Owen Paterson and Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael last week asking them to follow through their coupled support pledge and revisit the indefensible decision to withhold the full convergence uplift from Scotland. However, I have yet to receive any reply.

“The end result of the double whammy of convergence and coupled support means that, as it stands, over a quarter of a billion pounds cannot be directly targeted at priority areas of Scottish agriculture. That is completely unacceptable.

“It’s quite clear that Scottish farmers need clarity on the shape of the new CAP sooner rather than later and this delay is not helping. One way or another we will be sticking to our timetable for decision making on CAP implementation so time is running out.

“The Scottish Government has consistently stood up for Scottish farmers – we now need others to match our commitment to them and find a resolution quickly.”