Defra Secretary Owen Paterson has asked for farmers' views on how EU membership affects them.

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The government has launched its Review of the Balance of Competences, an analysis of what EU membership means to the UK. The review will examine the scope of EU powers and the effects they have on the UK.

Defra said the Review will help "improve public understanding of the nature of our EU membership and contribute to the wider European debate about how to modernise, reform and improve the EU."

As well as informing policy, the information gathered will also be used as a temperature check by the government, after Prime Minister David Cameron promised a referendum on EU membership, if he is re-elected at the next election.

Mr Cameron's statement on a referendum was greeted with some trepidation in January; when announcing his decision, the Prime Minister claimed that social, employment and environmental regulation, in the EU "have gone far too far". Former shadow environment minister Mary Creagh challenged his assertions and warned that freeing the government from EU commitments could have grave social and environmental consequences. She asked, "Cameron says EU environmental legislation has gone far too far. Which bits would he scrap? Clean water, air, waste reduction or [the] Habitats directive?"

The review's agriculture report will examine EU powers for the Common Agricultural Policy, plant health and forestry. There will also be a report on fisheries.

Commenting on the information gathering, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson – who is a well known Eurosceptic – said, "We want to hear from people with direct experience of what our membership of the EU means in practice. Our farmers and fishermen are affected by it every day, so I'd like to know what they think. Anyone involved in agriculture, forestry or the fishing industry will have a view, as will the thousands of businesses linked to them. This is a real opportunity to inform the national debate on Europe."

The government consultation opened on Monday (21^st October), and will run for twelve weeks, closing in January. The final reports will be published in summer 2014.