Hansard

As a member of the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, and as a South Scotland list MSP who represents a large rural and farming community, I welcome this timely and most important debate on the future of the common agricultural policy.

Food security will be one of the most critical issues in the coming years, and a thriving farm sector that preserves and develops the indigenous capacity to produce safe, secure, nutritious and diverse supplies of food is not a luxury but a necessity. That is especially relevant to the local food and drink sector across South Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway, which is one of the most successful drivers of economic growth in the region.

The current discussions on the future of the CAP take place against the most difficult economic backdrop that we have experienced since the EU was established in 1957. Like all other sectors of society, Scotland’s farmers are facing very difficult financial and market conditions. More than ever, it is essential that the Scottish Government is able to represent the distinctive interests of our farming sector at the forthcoming CAP negotiations. The reforms must support our farmers and not damage them.

In truth, our farming interests will be properly represented only when Scotland takes its own seat at the EU negotiating table as an independent member state and negotiates as an equal partner alongside the other national Governments. The vast majority of Scotland’s farmers do not believe that the UK Government’s position on CAP reform is in their best interests or reflects the serious challenges that they face. Scottish farming is different, but the differences seem to be lost on the UK Government. It is therefore essential that this Parliament fully engages in a debate, along with the Scottish Government, on the shape of the post-2014 CAP. We must develop a clear set of objectives for the CAP reforms and exert as much pressure as possible on the UK Government to ensure that Scotland’s views are represented as the negotiations proceed.

Before considering some specific issues, I add my voice to those who are urging the European Commission to ensure that the reforms do not add to the complexity of the CAP. We need a simpler CAP and not a more complex regime. I want a CAP that gives maximum flexibility to those who implement the new arrangements to allow them to tackle the specific challenges that they face.

Although the final shape of the reformed CAP is far from clear, we can endorse from a Scottish perspective a number of the underlying principles that inform the Commission’s proposals. I firmly believe that the maintenance of direct support to farmers, particularly those in fragile areas and sectors, should be the top priority of agricultural policy and our top negotiating point in the upcoming negotiations. Direct payments are crucial for Scotland’s farmers, and the phasing out or elimination of that arrangement would fundamentally undermine the sustainability of our rural communities. This is an instance when our Government’s position diverges from that which the UK Government is adopting, and that is causing concern in our farming sector. I urge the UK Government to retreat from its fixation on what is simply a cost-cutting measure, as it will jeopardise the welfare and future development of our farming sector and rural communities.

I welcome the prospect of reforms that bring to an end what is, in effect, discrimination against new entrants to farming as a result of direct support being linked solely to past output levels. I want support to be geared towards farmers who are active and producing for the nation, and I therefore want to see new entrants coming into the sector.

I will now focus on some aspects of the reforms that are important for our upland livestock farmers. First, to follow on from my previous point, there are understandable concerns about the shift from historical payments to area-based direct payments and the implications in terms of lost subsidy for smaller hill farmers. I acknowledge that the proposed reforms will make it easier for new entrants to the sector, but it is essential that the Scottish Government tailors the implementation of the new arrangements to meet the specific needs of our farming sector. I want the reforms to provide the flexibility to allow our Government to deliver an area-based system that meets our needs.

Secondly, I am pleased that the proposals allow member states to set aside up to 5 per cent of their national envelopes for coupled payments to a variety of sectors. The Scottish beef calf scheme has shown that a certain number of headage payments are needed to maintain production in economically and environmentally fragile areas, and the scheme has succeeded in stabilising the drop in livestock numbers, as shown by the latest agricultural census. We need to retain our ability to run such a scheme, and indeed a case can be made for raising the ceiling beyond 5 per cent.

ThirdIy, given that 85 per cent of Scottish land is eligible for less favoured area status, the future of the less favoured area support scheme, which invests about £64 million a year in some of Scotland’s most remote farming regions, is of great interest to us. LFASS is undergoing a thorough Europe-wide review, but to date we lack comprehensive impact assessments of the Commission’s new proposals, which makes it difficult to assess their consequences. I urge the Commission to come forward with the new maps of the LFA delineation as soon as possible.

It is clear that the future rules of the CAP will be decided over the next 12 months or so. I want to ensure that the views of this Parliament and those of Scotland’s farmers are fully represented in the negotiations both directly in Brussels and via the UK Government. I hope that members who represent the parties that form the UK Government will join SNP members in ensuring that Scotland’s distinctive farming interests are fully recognised by London in the EU-level negotiations over the months ahead so that we have a CAP that works for and in Scotland.

I am confident that, by the time we get to 2018 and the next round of CAP reforms post-2020, Scotland will be at the EU negotiating table, negotiating in our own right, pursuing our own priorities, influencing the EU agenda, and working together with our European partners on the challenges that our rural and farming communities face.