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Farmers face real financial pain after budget cut - Lyon
July 7, 2011 1:51 PM
Originally published by George Lyon - Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland
Originally published by George Lyon - Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland
George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has warned that farmers face real financial pain as a result of the EU budget that was set last week.
Further details are now emerging that show the budget for 2014-2020 was cut by 20%. Mr Lyon will raise his concerns with European Agriculture Commissioner Ciolos on Monday next week.
Commenting, Mr Lyon said:
"On the surface, the 12% cut for the 2014-2020 total budget for direct payments appears to be not too bad but if you dig a little deeper the reality is much worse.
"When you compare the budgets on an annual basis, according to the Commissions own budget figures, the direct payment budget for 2011 of €47.62 billion will be cut by 20% to €38.06 billion by 2020.
"That can only mean significant cuts in direct payments to farmers and we need an explanation from Commissioner Ciolos as to who will bear the brunt of these reductions.
"Of even greater concern is the allocation of up to €2.5 million to help farmers adjust to a Mercusour Free Trade Deal. This signals quite clearly that the Commission expect a deal to go ahead and it is the Scottish beef industry that could be one of the hardest hit.
"This trade deal has the potential to do massive damage to Scottish agriculture if it fails to take account of the specialist beef sector in Europe.
"The Commissioner will be appearing before the Agriculture Committee on Monday and he will have some hard questions to answer on both these key issues for Scotland."
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