Common ground welcomed on CAP reforms

The NFU has today said that the views of Welsh Government are currently broadly in line with those of the farming industry in Wales, following the Welsh Government’s response to the European Commission’s CAP Pillar 1 proposals.

NFU Cymru President Ed Bailey said, "The response picks up on many of the concerns highlighted by NFU Cymru in our response to the Welsh Government consultation earlier this year and in particular shares our concerns over the speed of transition from a historic to an area based approach to direct payments.

"Whilst there are a number of points of detail within the paper that do not entirely match our way of thinking I am pleased that on some of the key issues for Wales there is consensus between the Welsh Government and NFU Cymru."

The response published yesterday, following a statement by Alun Davies, the Deputy Minister for Agriculture, to the National Assembly recognises that the likelihood is that the Welsh Government will require the use of differential payments based on land classification to mitigate the extremes that a change to area based payments will cause farmers.

Mr Bailey said ’We welcome recognition from Welsh Government that there is a need to consider all the tools available within the commission proposals to mitigate resource redistribution but we remain concerned that the extensive modelling work that the response refers to has yet to be shared with the farming community.

"We need to ensure that we leave no stone unturned in trying to devise a differential payments system that minimises redistribution, minimises the impact on agricultural productivity in Wales and at the same time is not overly complicated for farmers or for the Welsh Government to implement."

On Greening, the other hugely contentious and concerning issue for Welsh farmers, NFU Cymru agrees with the Welsh Government that the ’greening concept paper’ discussed at last week’s Agriculture Council meeting is a step forward from last October’s restrictive proposals."

Ed Bailey said, "We would agree with the Welsh Government that if Greening does become a part of Pillar 1 payments then there should be a wider menu of options than currently proposed."

"We would contend that farmers should then have the choice to decide which options they would pursue rather than have that decision made for them by Welsh Government."

NFU Cymru is also concerned that the Welsh Government has expressed support for the ability to transfer funds between Pillar 1 and 2.

Mr Bailey said, "It is our view that this flexibility should be removed from the legislative texts as it has the potential to create distortion between member states or regions just as is currently the case with voluntary modulation."

In conclusion Mr Bailey said, "It is important that both industry and Government at all levels through our respective lobbying channels into the European Commission and Parliament deliver common and consistent messages to try to secure the best deal for Wales."

"The Welsh Government response shows that that there is a lot of common ground between us but there is still a long way to go before final agreement is reached and much of the detail will change along the way, we look forward to continuing to discuss and debate these issues with the Deputy Minister and his officials."