The UK Government has “fleeced” Scotland’s farmers of millions of euros of European funding that rightfully belongs north of the border, it has been claimed.
Angus South MSP Graeme Dey weighed in to the furious and unrelenting row over Westminster’s handling of 223 million euros of CAP uplift funding.
The European Commission designated additional CAP funding with the intention that member states should bring the average support payments per hectare closer to the EU average of 196 euros per ha, and level the playing field across the agricultural industry.
Scotland’s current average sits at little more than half that level, at just 100 euros per hectare, and these low payments under the current system are the only reason the UK qualified for a 223 million euro ‘convergence uplift’.
The row has now raged since last Friday, when Defra ministers announced that instead of passing on funds worth the equivalent of 60m euros each year to Scotland’s farmers they will instead divvy them out equally across the whole of the UK.
“Scotland’s agricultural industry has been badly let down by the UK Government,” said Mr Dey, who sits as depute convener on the Scottish Government’s Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.
He continued: “Scotland has not received its fair share and it is, quite frankly, not good enough.
“It is the rural community and our economy that will feel the impact of Westminster’s refusal to play fair with Scotland.”
“This shameful episode illustrates why Scotland must have its own voice at the top table in Europe, and the opportunity to make that happen comes with next year’s referendum.”
The budget position in 2013 sees Scotland receive the third-lowest rate per hectare for direct payments (Pillar One) lower than all other parts of the UK and lower than all EU member states except Estonia and Latvia.
Scotland receives the lowest rate per hectare for rural development (Pillar Two) funding lower than all other parts of the UK and other member states.
In support of Scotland’s farmers and crofters, the NFUS this week wrote to the European Commission and has spoken to its own lawyers to clarify, legally, whether the UK has acted outwith the spirit of the CAP uplift funds in choosing to distribute it equally between its four entities.
It is understood NFUS has also spent the week with representatives of Scotland’s political parties to brief them on the situation and outline farmers’ priorities.