The EU Council and Parliament’s political agreement reached late on Tuesday night is a major step towards finalising CAP reform according to NFU Scotland.
Now it is a case of the European Commission publishing its implementation proposals as a matter of urgency.
Frustratingly, the CAP deal is not quite complete.
The agreed texts will be presented to the EU Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and EU member states pending a plenary vote by MEPs and EU Council adoption by member states’ heads of government later this year.
NFUS president Nigel Miller said: “It is helpful that a basic, high-level agreement has now been reached and that a high degree of uncertainty has been addressed.
“Our priorities remain clear: direct support must be available for active farmers, including new entrants, from day one of the new CAP.
“Scotland must also receive an equitable share of the UK’s Pillar One budget.
“Those funds must not be relied upon to prop up our rural development measures in Pillar Two, but it is crucial that our rural development programme continues to prioritise Less Favoured Areas,” he added.
“The transition to the new area-payment system should be made manageable in order to help businesses adapt to the new area-based arrangements, with the potential for coupled support to be provided to those sectors which are most vulnerable, such as beef production and breeding hill flocks.
“Degressivity a means to cut by 5% any payment over 150,000 euros could well affect some of Scotland’s larger units and is an unfair levy on those striving to achieve a balanced economy of scale, especially on units with poorer land.
“The greening measures still threaten many of our arable producers, and NFUS will continue to impress upon the Scottish Government the need to devise a system which will permit them to farm without unmanageable constraints.”