Coupled support discussion
11 Apr 2014 04:03 PM
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.”