Minister’s pledge to fight for fair CAP deal

The claim was made following a meeting in London between Defra’s four ministers and ministers from the devolved administrations to discuss the recent draft document of the CAP, which has drawn much consternation from UK producers.

Among the many proposals it makes are to cap subsidy payments, require more land to be devoted to wildlife habitats and scale back targeted support for farmers in challenging areas, such as the Yorkshire Dales or North York Moors.

The reforms have drawn criticism from both farmers and politicians alike who say the proposals are flawed and miss an opportunity to help improve and safeguard farming for the coming decade.

Ms Spelman said: “I want farmers and fishermen in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England to know I’m on their side and I’ll be using the full weight of the UK’s membership of the EU negotiations to fight for the best deal for the whole of the UK.

“I want to build a spirit of trust with the devolved administrations, where there is a shared understanding that Defra is representing the best interests of everyone in the UK. Although within the UK we will have differences about how we approach certain policies at times, it’s important that the rest of Europe hears one voice from the UK when we are involved in negotiations on issues which are fundamental to our fishing and farming industries and to the health of our environment.

“I was delighted to hear colleagues from the devolved administration say that they recognise the importance of us all working positively together.

“We’re disappointed that the CAP proposals as they stand could actually take us backwards, so we have been building alliances across Europe so that we can get meaningful reform which will provide the best deal for farmers, consumers and the environment.

“The meeting with the devolved administrations was very constructive and I’m pleased with the very positive level of engagement shown by everyone. We are going to keep working with all parts of the UK as the ministerial team here at Defra leads the negotiations in Europe in the coming months.”

Further question marks on the timing of CAP reform were raised this week by Scottish Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon, who was quoted as saying he did not think the reforms would take effect until 2015.

Mr Lyon said the political complexity of the negotiations meant that a delay was highly likely.

NFU senior CAP adviser Gail Soutar said: “The proposals put forward by the commission are complicated and controversial. We believe very few of them will help deliver the stated EU objectives of ‘smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for European agriculture’.”