New Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael said yesterday he was sympathetic to a call for Scotland to receive more Common agricultural Policy cash from the UK Government.
He was speaking just days after Scottish politicians from across the divide wrote to him and UK Environment Minister Owen Paterson urging them to ensure all the ÂŁ195million extra being paid to Britain up to 2020 heads north of the border.
The cash boost is due solely to Scotland receiving one of the lowest payments on a per hectare basis in the EU and the European Commission now addressing that in its Cap convergence process. That should ultimately mean everyone receiving about the same rate, regardless of where they farm.
But Mr Carmichael, on a visit to Charlie Adam’s farm at Braeside, Leochel Cushnie, near Alford, warned it was not as simple a process as had been made out – and could be open to legal challenge.
That threat also applied to the coupling of aid to support the suckler herd and Scottish attempts to deliver more meaningful levels of extra finance by using 8% of the UK’s allocation as opposed to just 8% of Scotland’s budget.
Mr Carmichael said: “An important part of the discussions at the moment is about the legality of the various options on the table. I have to be candid and say a number of the options do not come risk-free nor without the threat of legal challenge.”
He said the threats could come from the European Commission which may launch infraction proceedings if it viewed any of the moves as against EU law.
Farming interests in other parts of the UK could also take action if they felt discriminated against, as could other devolved administrations.
He declined to discuss the specifics of the talks on how UK Cap budgets may be split. He was, however, pursuing a case that he said was “in the best interests of Scottish farming and rural communities”.
NFU president Nigel Miller said securing the extra cash would be a “game changer” and give Scotland an early prize from Cap reforms, as it could mean more aid going to specific regions. That applied equally to the budget from which coupled aid will eventually be delivered to help what many expect will be solely the beef sector.
Mr Carmichael added: “I am completely aware of that argument (on the extra ÂŁ195million) and I am not without sympathy for the force of it.”
The talks around the kitchen table at Braeside were principally on Cap reforms and outstanding issues. Mr Adam, the NFU north-east regional board chairman, raised concerns about changes to feed-in tariffs for renewable energy.
Fears were voiced yesterday by Scottish Liberal-Democrat MEP George Lyon that Cap payments could be delayed.
His concerns stem from delays to a vote in the European Parliament on Europe’s budget – the so-called multiannual financial framework up to 2020. Parliament had been expected to vote through the package at its session in Strasbourg next week, but the final details of the budget have emerged too late for that to happen. That means the vote will not now happen until November, which could potentially delay Cap support payments.