Ewe premium to double next year


19 December 2001



Ewe premium to double next year

By Philip Clarke in Brussels


EWE premiums will more than double next year, after an agreement for a new flat-rate payment reached in Brussels on Wednesday (19 December).


Returning to a deal they abandoned last month, European farm ministers took little time to endorse the European Commission proposals.


Next years payments will be Euro21/ewe (about 13 at current exchange rates), with a Euro7/ewe top-up for the less favoured areas.


Ministers also agreed an extra Euro72m to go into a national envelope – equivalent to Euro1 per sheep – to be spent at member states discretion.


The UK will get just over Euro20m, the largest share of any member state.


Rural Affairs Secretary Margaret Beckett also won a concession to deduct another Euro1/sheep from the Euro21 flat rate put into the national envelope.


She wants to use the money for an English quota buy-up scheme to reduce over-stocking and help with restructuring in the wake of foot-and-mouth.


But Welsh farm minister Carwen Jones indicated that he would use the cash for an across-the-board top up for the first year


That approach is likely to be repeated in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

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