EU Calls for Changes
Although Defra’s schemes are effective and have been designed to make them attractive to farmers, the European Commission concluded that payments should only be made at certain points during the year instead of on a rolling basis throughout the year, to comply with EU law. The Commission has asked Defra to establish an annual deadline for applications of 15 May. This may have an impact on when applications for new or renewed Stewardship agreements can be accepted, and on the start dates Defra is able to offer for these agreements.
The National Farmers Union has called this situation “astonishing” and has called on Defra to challenge the EU Commission.
NFU President Peter Kendall said: “The farming industry places its trust in Defra to administer agri-environment schemes in England and, more importantly, to ensure that they stay within the rules for delivery. This situation could seriously compromise the cash flow of many farmers and growers who rely on regular agri-environment payments when planning for their business.
“But there are some important questions that need answering. Firstly, how long has Defra known about this issue and how big a problem is it in reality. Defra has indicated to us that it thinks its current process for conducting cross-checks is robust. If this is the case, we would expect Defra to give full consideration to a legal challenge against the Commission’s interpretation. At the very least, Defra needs to find the best way forward out of this mess and ensure it has as little impact as possible on farmers. I will be looking for a firm commitment from Defra that any introduction of changes will be carried out with sufficient resource and maximum efficiency by its agencies.”
Talks between Defra and the European Commission are not yet complete and specific details of the changes are yet to be decided. Farmers are being notified now so that they are aware of this situation, and have the opportunity to contribute their views.
Defra is making every effort to minimise the potential impacts on agreement holders and to persuade the Commission to adopt a flexible approach, but it is likely that there will be some delays to at least some payments. Defra does not expect to make any changes before 2011 at the earliest. In the meantime, farmers are encouraged to continue to apply for new or renewed Environmental Stewardship agreements as before.
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