Post-Brexit agricultural frameworks need 'greater clarity', committee hears

Much greater clarity about post-Brexit UK-wide agricultural frameworks is urgently needed to help maintain the market within the UK.

Scottish Land & Estates, which represents land-based businesses across Scotland, took part in an evidence session of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (ECCLR) Committee at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday (23 January).

The committee heard from environmental lawyers and experts on the UK’s decision to leave the EU and the development and implementation of common or shared frameworks associated with Brexit.

The session explored the nature, scale and number of potential shared frameworks, and the principles that should be used to guide the development of such frameworks.

The organisation told the committee that a common framework could be necessary to help maintain the market within the UK, facilitate the negotiation of trade deals and potentially protect the rural budget.

Any framework would have to be mutually agreed, it said. Devolved administration have frequently stated that it must not be imposed by Westminster.

'High degree of freedom'

Scottish Land & Estates explained that the framework must allow the different parts of the UK a "high degree of freedom" to choose to implement policy as they choose.

Andrew Midgley, Policy and Research Manager at Scottish Land & Estates, said: “Creating frameworks is not going to be easy because there are difficult issues relating to how they are established and operate, and how they are policed. This presents extremely difficult issues in the context of devolution.

“We are pleased that the UK and Scottish Government managed to agree some principles on establishing common frameworks and that the governments appear to be trying to work through what this might look like and involve.

“However, we need to see quicker progress on both the high-level governance issues about how this could operate and agreement on the areas which require frameworks to be applied.”

Opposition politicians have in the past accused the UK government of an attempted "power grab" over responsibilities that will return to the UK from Brussels once the country withdraws from the EU.

Farming union NFU Scotland said it is now looking to Westminster for guarantees on the financial framework and the flexibility for Scotland to develop agricultural policies bespoke to the needs of Scotland’s farmers and crofters.