Leak reveals new rules for LFA support payments

Farmers in the most disadvantaged areas of Europe will be subjected to a new “biophysical” assessment before they can qualify for payments under a new form of Less Favoured Areas (LFA) support, according to a leaked document from the European Commission.

The latest draft of the Commission’s discussion paper on LFAs is scheduled to be put before agriculture ministers at their council meeting later this month.

It argues that the current basis of socio-economic disadvantage will not be enough to attract payments in future.

Instead soil and climate criteria will form the basis for new funding, provisionally being referred to as Natural Handicap Payments.

The leaked document, which has already been unofficially viewed by at least some member states, follows hard on the announcement made by European agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel during a visit to disadvantaged areas of Scotland last week that publication was imminent.

It puts the ball firmly into the court of individual countries by requiring them to map existing LFAs against the new biophysical criteria to justify why their farmers qualify for aid.

The review of LFA payments follows criticism by the European Court of Auditors in 2003 that many countries were playing fast and loose with definitions of “less favoured”, particularly the “intermediate” classification which applies to LFA land in the UK.

Previous attempts to reform the scheme have been abandoned as being too contentious, and insiders believe it is unlikely that changes will be implemented next year.

The LFA scheme, which accounts for 14% of all payments under the EU’s rural development programme, is recognised as essential in underpinning agriculture in remote and disadvantaged areas.

During her visit to Scotland last week Mrs Fischer Boel was shown a map of the country at the breakfast table in her hotel and NFU Scotland officials pointed out the difficult physical conditions faced by farmers on 85% of the country’s farmland.