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Foreword
The Scottish Government has a clear and ambitious agenda for Scottish agriculture in the 21st century. It wants it to continue to be a dynamic and competitive industry, ensuring the long-term viability of our rural communities and enabling farmers and crofters to play their full part in achieving our overarching purpose of sustainable economic growth, through food production and environmental management of agricultural land.
There can be little doubt about the importance of the European Common Agricultural Policy ( CAP) to Scottish farming and crofting.
The European Commission has recently published its proposals for a Health Check of the 2003 CAP reform. European negotiations on the CAP Health Check are expected to be completed later this year, after which we will need to take decisions on implementation.
Some of the Commission's proposals could have a significant impact in Scotland and so it is important that we consult on them. We can expect further, more significant, change from 2014 onwards and so we are also looking ahead in this consultation paper. We do not want to take short-term decisions about implementing the Health Check in Scotland without having a view about where we want to go in the longer-term, beyond 2014.
We very much want to hear your views to help us influence the European debate successfully and so that we can make decisions that are in the best interests of Scotland. We are determined to make Scotland's voice heard.
RICHARD LOCHHEAD MSP
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment
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