Scotland’s farming union has sought clarity from the European Union, and from its lawyers, over the legitimacy of the UK Government’s apparent ‘pocketing’ of CAP convergence uplift funds.
In a direct letter to the European Commission, NFU Scotland hopes to shed light on whether Westminster has acted outwith the spirit, purpose and intention behind the additional EU funding, by deciding not to pass the uplift on to farmers in Scotland.
A furious row has raged unrelenting since Defra announced on Friday that Scottish farming’s share of the CAP budget was to remain unchanged.
This comes despite the fact the UK received an increase in its total CAP budget almost solely as a result of Scotland’s low payment rate per hectare which sits at little more than half the EU average.
Instead of passing on the funds, worth approximately £190 million in financial support, to Scotland’s crofters and farmers, Defra has instead been accused of “pocketing” the payments with the intention of sharing it out equally between the four parts of the UK.
Revealing “deep disappointment” and bewilderment that Scotland will not benefit from an immediate uplift in CAP funds, NFUS boss Nigel Miller said farmers north of the Border have a “justifiable claim” to a “significant proportion” of the uplift in CAP funding.
He said, as a result of receiving the lowest payment rates in Europe, at only e100 per ha, a significant proportion of the cash sent to the UK should have been used to deliver Europe’s vision for convergence by being directed to Scotland.
“Clearly for the UK, the convergence process has yet to start, but the agreed target of a minimum e196 per hectare in all member states by 2020 is a solid statement of intent from Europe,” said Mr Miller.
Mr Miller said the convergence of member state budgets and the internal convergence of area payments in regions is intended to move European agriculture away from support distorted by historical policy and timelines, towards a level playing field.