Rennie lands top job in Europe

Donald Rennie, a retired solicitor and agricultural law specialist who practised in Edinburgh, has been elected as president of the European Council for Agricultural Law Council. He is the only Scottish lawyer ever to have been elected to this position.

CEDR is the only pan-European organisation which represents lawyers and professionals interested in rural law, in all its aspects, including agricultural, environmental and food safety and security. It is a federation of national agricultural law associations. It has consultative status with the Council of Europe and regularly provides assistance and advice to the institutions of the European Union. It has over 2,200 members scattered across Europe, of whom 1000 are in the UK, making the British Agricultural Law Association by far the biggest in Europe

Following his election, Donald said: "The regulations of the European Union have a massive effect on the daily lives of farmers across Europe, in the areas of subsidy, food security, food safety and the impact of farming on the environment. While working within CEDR I have become more and more aware that the problems faced by farmers in Scotland or the UK are not unique to them and are mirrored across Europe. As President I intend to work with colleagues both in the United Kingdom and across the Continent to assist farmers by striving to ensure that the regulations affecting their daily activities are as simple and comprehensible as can be achieved."