McLaren appeals to Ciolos on cross-compliance

As the former Romanian agriculture Minister made his first visit to the UK at the Royal Highland Show, Mr McLaren urged him to reconsider the rules which have seen Scottish farmers face a hike in penalties.

The penalties, which are calculated based on how much livestock a farmer keeps, are unfairly penalising those with larger herds, claimed Mr McLaren.

He said the system currently in place was encouraging farmers ‘to do less for fear of making mistakes’ and facing bigger fines.

Instead, he suggested Europe should move to a flat rate system of penalties to ensure active, commercial farmers are not put at a disadvantage.

He said: “Currently we have a system which results in large fines for small administrative errors which is denting confidence in the industry and actually creating a incentive to reduce activity; the very opposite of what we want to see happening.

Responding to the calls, Mr Ciolos said he was aware of the issue, but he told Mr McLaren any immediate change to the rules was unlikely.

 “It is important to understand that the European Commission have to ensure good management of the budget we have,” he said. “We cannot intervene in these rules but in the future of the CAP we can look at ways to make this more proportional.

“It is vital that we have clear rules which are simple to enforce. It is not easy for the Commission if we have too much flexibility in the system because then we are questioned about our ability to look after our budget.”

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