We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.CAP payment register could be abolished
THE public register revealing the exact amount of CAP money paid to each UK farmer could be breaching data protection rules, according to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The register, which can be found on the Defra website, was launched in 2008 by Mariann Fischer Boel, the European Agriculture Commissioner from 2004 to 2009.
At the time she said: “This is taxpayers’ money, so it is very important that people know where it is being spent.”
Under the rules Member States must disclose the amounts awarded to farmers from CAP funds, together with their names, residence and postcode.
But the German Government has refused to comply citing ‘data protection issues’.
The Germans challenged the EU rules and the case now sits with the ECJ.
On June 17 ECJ Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston delivered her initial verdict on the case which could signal an end to the public register.
She said: “Where the legislature has chosen a particular form of publication that is intrusive of a right, the responsible institution must be able to explain to the Court why that particular form of publication is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to the specific aim that is pursued.
“In my view, such an explanation has not emerged in the present case.”
The final ECJ verdict is expected in the autumn.
