Scottish farmers yesterday began talks on the forthcoming reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy. The talks, involving policy makers and industry representatives, seek to explore what changes to Europe’s farming policy would mean for Scotland and the potential effects of controversial ‘greening measures’ which play a central part in the European Commission’s CAP proposals, released late last year.

The event, organised by NFU Scotland, is playing host to Defra chief Caroline Spelman, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead and George Lyon MEP, all of whom play central roles in ongoing negotiations over CAP.

The union said that, though the organisation of its event, it is seeking to find allies amongst other Northern European states with similar interests to secure the best possible deal in forthcoming negotiations. Union officials said they hope other nations, which “share many land-type, weather and farming characteristics [will] work together to produce effective yet practical alternative policies to the deeply unpopular proposals in current draft text.”

Union officials also said they would attempt to “Discuss ways in which the next Common Agricultural Policy can meet higher environmental standards and still deliver on food production and rural economic growth.”

However, the greening measures to which NFUS has taken exception will likely feature prominently in the post-2014 CAP, as serious changes need to be made to justify the scale of public spending on CAP to an increasingly environmentally-minded European population. The Commission has proposed making 30 per cent of direct payments dependant on fulfilling certain environmental criteria; farming groups have argued that the commission’s approach is too rigid and risks causing harm, rather than improving the environment.

NFUS criticises greening measures

NFUS said, “In essence, [greening measures] relate to the area of land which farmers can keep under active production, the kinds of crops they can grow over a certain area and keeping land under grass for a prescribed period of time.

“The rigidity of these proposals is seen as prohibitive to farming and food production and many experts believe that the EU Commission’s environmental ambitions could be met in a way which still upholds food production and is viable from a budgetary perspective.”

However, the union’s proposed remediation to the Commission’s draft proposals remains focused on shirking the burden of environmental measures, rather than engaging and proposing viable alternatives which would produce benefits for the environment as well as for business.

Alternative measures suggested by the union include extending exemptions from greening measures to various farming sectors; organic farmers would be exempted from greening measures under Commission proposals and NFUS would like to see other sectors included in this exemption, although it has not made clear the benefits these other sectors provide.

NFUS also advocates extending Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) requirements to include greening measures, or increase funding for greening measures as voluntary initiatives, either by enabling farmers to ‘opt out’ or by retaining agri-environmental options as part of the pillar two rural development options.

The sole consideration which could offer benefits for farmers across the varied landscape of Northern Europe, as well as the landscapes themselves, is the proposed ‘menu approach.’ This would offer more targeted or tailored schemes where Member States or regions could define their own set of measures, which would be directly responsive to local environmental challenges and farming systems. As it would be locally sensitive, increased popular support would likely reduce the need for enforcement, which has been a criticism of the current draft proposals.

NFU president expresses concern

NFU Scotland’s President, Nigel Miller, who is hosting the event, said yesterday, "Member States recognise that greening will be a central component of the new CAP and that it is essential that we meet greening requirements if we are to retain a sufficient budget under Pillar I. Farmers are concerned, however, about the detail of the EU Commission’s proposals and the effect they could have on food and drink production and the competitiveness of EU agriculture as a whole.

"This negativity is apparent across the whole of the EU’s 27 member states which is why we have brought together some of our northern European colleagues – with whom we share certain land, weather and farming characteristics – to determine how we can shape the EU Commission’s proposals in a way that works for farming, the environment, the EU budget and public expectation. We shall be quantifying what the impact would be if the proposals were left unchanged: we need to balance how Pillar I, which provides direct support to farm businesses, can drive sustainable food production while meeting environmental needs."

The union has candidly stated that it believes food production should remain a priority, however, environmentalists and policy makers have pointed out that dramatic drops in biodiversity and finite resources, which are increasing in cost, are threatening agriculture’s long term viability. Rather than focusing exclusively on profit and competitively at a time when producers increasingly find themselves in an increasingly invidious position, squeezed between artificially low returns from large retailers and processors and rising input costs, food policy experts and agriculturalists have said there is a need for more socially and environmentally focused policies going forward.

The conference, which concludes today, is discussing issues ahead of the European Parliament’s response to the Commission’s proposals, however, this response is unlikely to materialise before 2013. Although the European Court of Auditors has agreed that the proposals as they stand are too focused on compliance, rather than performance, and would prove too difficult and expensive to implement, there is widespread enthusiasm for greater environmental considerations, and a recognition they must play a key part in forthcoming negotiations.

Nevertheless, how these changes will be implemented remains to be seen.  

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