Unions unite in attack on UK’s stance

Farming union leaders in the UK yesterday reacted angrily to reports that UK government negotiators in Brussels were trying to change funding priorities under the forthcoming reform of the Common Agricultural Policy in a package which would reduce direct subsidies by 20 per cent

The farming leaders said they were opposed to the move, which would shift the support into the so-called Pillar Two box, to support environmental and rural development projects.

While union leaders protested, the discussions appear to be based on the UK government’s previously stated priorities in moving support away from direct subsidies into wider rural priorities.

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Union leaders claimed these cuts would be on top of the European Commission’s proposals for 30 per cent to be ring fenced for “greening” and on top of the 10 per cent “compulsory modulation” which the commission proposes should permanently shift into Pillar Two.

While this discussion is going on, some member states, including Spain, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria, have been seeking to return monies back to the direct payments in a step known as “reverse modulation”.

In a joint statement, Nigel Miller, president of NFU Scotland, Peter Kendall president of NFU England and Wales, Ed Bailey, president of NFU Cymru and John Thompson president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, said they were sure farmers in the UK would be “very concerned” to hear that UK ministers were seeking to engineer ways to cut direct payments whilst other governments were looking for ways to increase them.

“We know that money is going to be tight in this next CAP and we recognise that it is inappropriate to argue for more money to be spent on direct payments at this time,” they said.

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“However, the fundamental problem to be addressed here is not the level of support payments to farmers, but the inadequate Pillar Two allocation that the UK receives.”

The UK receives the lowest per hectare allocation of Pillar Two funds of all member states. This is because of the reluctance of successive UK governments to draw down discretionary European funds, based on the impact that this would have on the size of the UK rebate.

The union leaders were last night supported by the Scottish Government cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment Richard Lochhead, who said the discussions illustrated the UK government’s sustained attack on direct payments, on which many Scottish farms depended for their very survival.

“They want substantial cuts to the direct payments budget, and a substantial share of what’s left to be transferred into their favoured schemes,” he said.

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“The Scottish Government has argued from the outset that the UK government should take a different approach and redress Scotland’s unfairly low CAP receipts by negotiating a decent budget settlement.”

Lochhead promised to continue to press UK Secretary of State Caroline Spelman and her team on the issue.

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