Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her priorities are for reforming the Common Agricultural Policy; and if she will make a statement.

Our immediate priority, over the next year, is to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reducing the administrative burden of the CAP on farmers is a necessary part of increasing the competitiveness of our food and farming sector.

We have pushed hard in the EU for reforms such as a review of the greening rules which place unnecessary burdens on farmers for limited environmental benefits. There is an opportunity to reform the CAP in a positive way for farmers by developing a simpler policy as part of the Commission’s CAP simplification programme.