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Speaking at the end of the first day of talks on reforms, Scotland's Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment Richard Lochhead, who was in Luxembourg for the negotiations, said "The battle lines have been drawn, but as these negotiations get underway it is abundantly clear there is a long road ahead of us."

During the first day of discussion, the key themes of simplification and greening were discussed, including the proposal to put aside up to 7 percent of land; however, several countries raised the issue of food production and food security in years to come. They claimed the measure could inhibit their ability to produce enough food to cope with a rising global population and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Mr Lochhead continued, "Flexibility is also crucial to Scotland and we will need enough flexibility to tailor the new CAP to our circumstances. I believe this is linked to simplification - if the rules are simplified at EU level than we will have to be given the flexibility to tailor them to local needs. In Scotland, we desperately want to see greater simplification but not at the expense of some vital measures such as achieving a definition of activity to help decide which businesses should receive public support."

Lochhead pledged work with the Scottish farming industry, raising farmers’ concerns in Luxembourg as talks progress. He said, "I am working closely with other UK Ministers on this issue and we will discuss our positions further when we meet in London next week."

MEPs not optimistic about EU CAP timeframe

Meanwhile, Scottish MEP Andrew George has speculated that, due to the level of disagreement in Europe, any concrete reforms are likely to be delayed until 2015, although they are expected to come into force in January 2014. He said the complexity of the negotiations over the proposals mean it is unlikely an agreement will be made on reform proposals by 2013, as is intended; others in Europe, including members of the NFU’s Brussels office have shared George’s opinion, voicing concerns over the lack of cohesion between policy makers on almost every proposal.

George said a battle between the European Parliament and the European Council is inevitable as the two rarely agree and will surely wrestle over the CAP proposals. Furthermore, elections in France and Germany are expected to disrupt the process.

Speaking at the NFU council meeting on Tuesday, Maeve Whyte, director of the NFU Brussels office, echoed Mr George’s sentiments, "Co-decision between the Commission and the European Parliament is likely to take longer that the anticipated 18 months. Parliament could delay it as long as possible if they don’t like the proposals."