There has been a promise of seamless continuity in farm support payments in an independent Scotland from Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead.
He maintained with the budget already allocated up to 2020, there would be no disruption to CAP payments to Scottish farmers:
“The administration of payments from the CAP is already conducted by the Scottish Government.
“As the European Commission pays CAP payments in arrears, the Scottish Government plans that an independent Scotland will underwrite payments to farmers, as Westminster does today, ensuring a smooth transition for Scottish farmers.”
At the launch of Scotland’s Future and Scottish Farming a nine-page extract from the 670-page White Paper released on Tuesday he said a yes vote would give 18 months for Scotland to negotiate its transition to a member state.
On the warning from Spanish Prime Minister that an independent Scotland would have to leave the EU and then renegotiate re-entry, Mr Lochhead said Mariano Rajoy took a political stance over Catalonia.
However, Scottish Euro MP George Lyon said the comments from the Spanish Prime Minister had “blown the SNP’s entire case out of the water” and, with every EU member state holding a veto over Scottish membership, his remarks had to be taken seriously.
“Scottish farmers receive one of the highest average Single Farm Payments in the EU, and the EU market is hugely important for our food and farming industries.
“If independence would take us out of the EU, as the Spanish Prime Minister has stated . . . farmers face the prospect of losing the money they need to help them produce their goods and the market they need to sell their produce,” he said.