Common Agricultural Policy

That the Parliament notes the importance of the EU common agricultural policy (CAP) for underpinning productive agriculture, delivering environmental and other public benefits and supporting rural development; notes that the EU reached an agreement on a new CAP and welcomes the Scottish Government’s success in negotiating provisions that meet Scotland’s needs on new entrants, active farming and increased flexibilities; looks forward to the Scottish Government’s future public consultations on implementing the new CAP in Scotland; notes that, as a member state, Scotland would have qualified for increased Pillar 1 payments worth €1 billion extra up to 2020 and been able to negotiate improved Pillar 2 rural funding; deplores the budget deal negotiated by the UK Government, which failed to address Scotland’s unacceptably low CAP funding, and calls on the UK Government to deliver a fair deal for Scotland through the UK’s allocation of CAP funds, including the full external convergence uplift to Scotland.