Minister is off the Paice over Scots' CAP reform views

UK FARMING minister Jim Paice left St Andrews last night with no doubts about the agenda Scottish farmers want to see in any reform of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy.

But judging by his response, any chance that the messages he received at the annual meeting of NFU Scotland will have any deep effect on the UK position would appear to be slight.

He arrived carrying the baggage provided by his superior in Defra, Caroline Spelman, who has already indicated that she wants to see the ending of direct payments to farmers and also that there should be a cut in the overall budget of the CAP.

These statements have not gone down well with Scottish farmers, leaving union president Jim McLaren to describe the policies as "a very sad and serious set of affairs".

He added that the "calling for the abolition of direct payments and immediate cuts to the CAP budget will find no support here in Scotland". Furthermore he expressed the worry that the Defra position might isolate the UK from other member states before the serious phase of negotiations began.

He pointed out that the UK was a very diverse member state and there were areas in both Scotland and Wales that would face a serious risk of abandonment if there were not supportive programmes in place.

McLaren said that it was crucially important for the UK to have a single negotiating position on the shape of the next CAP.

However Paice was unrepentant on his government's policy on reducing the size of the CAP budget, saying that not only were there pressures on the overall EU budget but there was a need to reduce the amount of cash going into farming.

He denied that the government wanted to get rid of the single farm payment in the short term saying he wanted it to be in place for the next seven years which is the normal timescale for CAP policy. But he did say that during that period up to 2020 farmers should be preparing themselves to do without any support. "I have always believed the day will come when farming will do without direct payments."

He did not believe there was a big divide between the Defra position and those of the devolved countries.

He also said the UK would not be standing alone on its position, saying a number of other member states have similar views. "We are not out on a limb," he said, adding that countries such as Sweden, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands had similar if not identical objectives.

He said both he and Spelman had a history of working in Europe and both knew how to influence policy and pointed out that no country ever got all its wishes.