SINGLE FARM PAYMENT

Motion Text

That this House supports the principle of decoupling farm subsidies from production and the move to a single farm payment (SFP), but notes that the Government's cross-compliance rules with which farmers must comply to receive the SFP are more stringent than elsewhere in Europe; notes that the Government has still not announced the rules on many aspects of the SFP; further notes that crop yields and livelihoods will be compromised as a result of certain cross-compliance conditions; believes that many of the conditions belong in voluntary agri-environment schemes where they could be targeted to areas of greatest environmental need; and calls on the Government to minimise the burden on farmers by striking a fairer balance between the realities of farming and the requirements of the EU.