Pack sets out Scotland's case for higher targeted CAP support

SCOTLAND should have more discretion in giving support to specific sectors within its overall agricultural industry, according to Brian Pack, the man charged by the Scottish Government with providing the preferred way forward for the European Union's common agricultural policy.

Speaking to the Conservative grouping of MEPs in Brussels this week, Pack suggested that up to 15 per cent of all support should be allowed, even if it is considered to be trade-distorting. That level of targeted support was necessary to ensure this country retained its livestock sector, he stated.

Pack said the support was necessary because of the unique challenges those in farming in this country are facing. He said 85 per cent of the Scottish land mass was categorised as Less Favoured and, in addition, the sheer remoteness of the Highlands and islands compounded the issue.

Currently, 38 per cent of the total support budget is allowed to be targeted under Article 68 of the Common Agricultural Policy and this week, Scottish beef calf producers were notified they would be receiving about 23 million from this fund. This money has come from top-slicing the overall budget, but Pack thought there should be dedicated money for future targeted funding.

One of the organisers of the conference, Struan Stevenson MEP, congratulated Pack on ensuring Scotland was on the front foot when it came to CAP reform.

Dacian Ciolos, the EU agricultural commissioner, was not at the conference when Pack spoke, and in his own speech he kept largely to generalities rather than trying to pin down any details.

When asked about direct aid as part of the future subsidy regime, as suggested by Pack, Ciolos said: "We will have to look at certain specific mechanisms. The market does not provide all the answers."

Increasingly, the commissioner's first priority seems to be ensuring there is widespread public support for the CAP.

In his speech he was critical of its current complexity, saying it was now understood by only a few people and, if it was to get public support in the future, it would need to be far simpler and more transparent.

MEP Richard Ashworth pointed out that while many people commented on the 50 billion (44bn) budget that the CAP consumes every year, when that sum was divided by the 500 million people living in the EU, it amounted to less than 0.3 per person per day – in his words, "less than the cost of a bar of chocolate".

In a reference to the parts of the CAP not linked to production – the so-called Pillar 2 support – Ciolos said while the CAP was important to the farming industry, it was necessary to ensure it was also for the wider community.

When he was questioned on his attitude to genetic modification, initially he ducked the question saying it was not part of his portfolio. However, he than came back saying there needed to be pragmatic solutions.

"The reality is that we import a great deal of GM protein and we cannot possibly produce all that protein within Europe, so we need to be clear and transparent in what we are doing," he said.