An announcement made by Chancellor Philip Hammond that EU funding for farmers, scientists and other projects will be replaced by the Treasury after Brexit, has been welcomed by the Farmers’ Union of Wales today.
“News that the Treasury will guarantee to back EU-funded projects signed before this year's Autumn Statement, meaning that agricultural funding now provided by the EU will continue until 2020 is welcome news for the agricultural industry, providing much needed certainty for our rural economies and agricultural businesses for the period leading up to our departure from the EU,” said FUW President Glyn Roberts.
The UK has not yet triggered the negotiation process for leaving the EU, following the referendum vote in June and Prime Minister Theresa May has indicated the UK government will not trigger Article 50, which would begin a two-year process to leave, during 2016.
The structural and investment funds that will be guaranteed include CAP pillar two, the European Social Fund, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, including European Territorial Cooperation.
“The impact of the most recent recession on our economy as a whole was severe, but there can be no doubt that in rural Britain and many of our urban areas the impact has been buffered by the core role agriculture has played in generating income for communities the length and breadth of the UK.
“Go through the accounts of any farm and you will see the incredible contribution made to other businesses - whether to industries directly associated with agriculture such as feed merchants, or those without such direct links such as builders, plumbers and electricians. We cannot underestimate the importance of recognising that farming matters and how much of an impact it has on the rural economy. We need to nurture our farming sector to ensure that money keeps flowing through the rural economy and through that we protect and improve domestic food security,” said the Union President.
He added that the role farming plays in maintaining our natural environment and rural communities, coupled with the importance of maintaining and strengthening those political frameworks which protect our food security, mean agriculture, and in particular the family farm, should be high up the agenda for any Government.
“For the period of the current Parliament and beyond the FUW is committed to lobbying all those in Westminster and Cardiff to ensure that agriculture and family farms receive the attention and respect that they warrant and that they remain high on the agenda in a post-Brexit world,” added Glyn Roberts.