Scots farmers and crofters who believe the new Common Agricultural Policy rules will damage their business are being urged to speak up.
Conservative MEP Ian Duncan is on the hunt for working examples of how the new Cap is creating problems on farms and crofts.
He plans to present these examples to EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan’s staff at a meeting within the next few weeks.
“Commissioner Hogan knows there are significant problems (with the Cap) and he is now committed to addressing these,” said Mr Duncan.
“But he has asked for farmer case studies with an example of what the problem is. We are now getting together case studies of the very technical problems reported.”
Areas of concern included the impact of greening rules and confusion among farmers over the guidelines for the regime, said Mr Duncan.
“There seem to be issues with interpretation (of the rules),” added Mr Duncan.
“Government are more often than not asking the commission for clarification for fear of the response that they will get. And quite often the answers are verbal.”
Farmers wishing to provide examples of how the Cap is causing problems for them are urged to contact Mr Duncan by e-mail at ian.duncan@europal.europa.eu