Lyon presses for answers over CAP budget reforms

AS EUROPEAN politicians prepare to go off on their summer holidays, Scottish MEP, George Lyon has been hounding agricultural commissioner, Dacian Ciolos for answers on how the reformed common agricultural policy budget can be achieved without severely damaging the Scottish beef industry.

Lyon is particularly worried that promises have been made by the commissioner allowing cash for new member states Croatia and Macedonia to come into the European Union and also for those states who joined in 2004 and 2007 to get an increased share of the budget.

"It is difficult to see how this can happen while the overall CAP budget is being reduced by 20 per cent by 2020," said Lyon.

"The commissioner insisted he can square that circle without big cuts to farmers' direct payments, but it is very difficult to see how that is possible."

Lyon expressed concern that some of the funding gap might come from capping the amount of cash any individual farmer might receive. "This will hit Scottish farmers hard who have some of the biggest farms in Europe and the UK government will stand against his capping plans."

The MEP said he was also worried about the provisional plans for the CAP, which include the setting up of a globalisation fund to counteract the negative consequences of a trade deal with Mercosur as the group of South American countries are called.

"If there is no trade deal, will this money simply disappear each year to fund other priorities? If there was a bad deal that hit hard at the Scottish beef industry, will the annual fund of €500 million (430m] a year really be enough to compensate specialist beef producers across Europe who will be bear the brunt of any free trade deal?

"This fund is already used to help areas hit by factory closures and the great worry is that all it will offer beef farmers hit by a trade deal is counselling and business advice, instead of proper compensation for the drop in beef prices."