Farm inspections are to be simplified to reduce the “climate of fear” among producers.
EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan has announced a series of measures to create a more transparent penalty system under the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap).
The plans, which are part of a wider EU Commission drive to simplify the Cap, will apply to the penalty system for most direct payment schemes.
Under the proposals, farmers would be able to make corrections to their applications, following a preliminary check of the submission, up to 35 days after the final deadline without any penalties.
There would also be a change to the system of administrative penalties for direct payments – the current system which calculates penalties based on different categories will be replaced by a simple penalty which is 1.5 times the area over-declared.
If approved by MEPs, this would apply for 2016. Small over-declarations that are up to 3% of the area declared or two hectares will continue to not be penalised.
Lastly it is proposed that a yellow card system for first-time offenders be introduced.
In cases where the over-declaration is less than 10% of the area determined, the administrative penalty will be cut in half. Thereafter the producer will receive a so-called yellow card against their name and will be subject to an on-the-spot control the following year.
“I believe that the preventive preliminary checks, the yellow card and the simplified penalty system should make the lives of farmers easier, and even more importantly, they should reduce significantly the number of errors and consequently of cases where administrative penalties would need to be applied,” said Mr Hogan.
He said the plans “should end the climate of fear for farmers” and be a fair and proportionate response to the concerns of smaller farmers in particular.
The proposals were welcomed by Scots MEP Ian Duncan who called on Scottish Government to implement the changes if they were given the go-ahead by his political colleagues in Europe.
“The yellow card system represents a major step in the right direction from the commission, who are clearly taking a common sense approach to penalties and are committed to simplification,” said Mr Duncan.
NFU Scotland was slightly more apprehensive about the proposals but welcomed further steps by Commissioner Hogan to simplify the Cap.
A union spokesman said: “Over the years, many Scottish farmers will have been hammered by penalties on support payments following accidental errors discovered upon inspection where the penalties have been wildly out of kilter with the breach. While we would want to look in more detail at what the proposed ‘yellow card’ system might entail, it certainly marks a step in the right direction.”