Critical decisions

When it comes to Europe, the next year or so can only be regarded as critical to many people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast and across the whole of Scotland. There is the ongoing crisis with the Euro and the risk of financial collapse in several European countries that must be resolved. How this happens will have a profound effect on the shape of the EU for decades to come and its impact here should not be underestimated.

Negotiations to reform the Common Fisheries Policy will take place, providing Scotland a critical opportunity to replace the discredited and damaging current system with one that sees decisions taken on a regional basis rather than centrally in Brussels. The CFP has destroyed communities and careers and has utterly failed as a means of protecting fish stocks.

There is opportunity for a better future for the fishing industry as a result of these negotiations, but there are also dangers if they are mishandled and Scotland's voice is ignored. The Scottish Government will be working hard to ensure the best possible outcome from these discussions and there is simply too much at stake for us not to succeed.

At the same time as this, the Common Agricultural Policy will also be facing reform with the recent publication of the Commission's proposals signalling the opening of negotiations. A lot of work has already been done in Scotland to prepare for this, not least with the publication of the hugely important Brian Pack report into our farming sector.

The current CAP which prevents new entrants into farming from benefiting from payments while enabling some farmers to receive subsidies for what they produced a decade ago, while no longer working their land, is clearly something which needs to change. There will be immense challenges in moving from historical payments to area based payments, but changes to address the problems that currently exist are necessary.

The Scottish Government's priority is of course to secure the best possible deal for Scotland, but we believe the key to this is to ensure that the new CAP is fairer, more flexible and simpler. It should encourage new entrants and reward genuine activity.

In all these areas there are enormous challenges and tough negotiations ahead which will substantially affect the economic prospects of people in Banffshire & Buchan Coast. The Scottish Government will put its case in Europe as ably as possible, but as we remain part of the UK in these negotiations, surely these discussions clearly demonstrate that Scotland needs a greater role when it comes to the UK taking part in European negotiations?

The farming sectors north and south of the border are substantially different and as such will have differing priorities. Meanwhile the vast majority of the UK's fishing fleet is in Scotland so it is inevitable that the outcome of CFP reform will be of greater importance north of the border than in the rest of the UK. This was an industry that was once described by a Tory UK Government as “expendable” after all.

A formal role in negotiations for the Scottish Government that reflects our distinctive needs in Europe is one of the entirely reasonable changes to the Scotland Bill at Westminster which we are currently seeking. The intransigence we are facing even on this issue is extremely frustrating to say the least and does Scotland a grave disservice.

Of course better still for Scotland would be to speak with our own voice in Europe as an independent country and the chance to choose that will be coming for Scotland in a few short years.