Following recent shake ups in Parliament, it has been announced that English Government have finally produced the Brexit White Paper. This paper proposes the future relationships between the UK and the EU after Brexit. Whilst the 104 page document covers 4 major topics ranging from Foreign Policy and Defence, Trade, Protecting Personal Data and anything in between, the White Paper does also discuss the UK’s position in the EU single market, the current EU Legislation for goods that cross the borders and the ability for the UK to negotiate separate trade arrangements with other Countries.
Carys Studley of Rostons, Rural Chartered Surveyors based in Chester comments that “whilst this large document covers a whole realm of different matters, the paper at the moment is only a proposition to the EU and has not been finalised. There is much negotiation and the process through Parliament to deal with first.”
There is also talk of a new Common Rulebook which would retain current EU Standards for goods which would be Legislated by Parliament.
In regard to any future subsidies in England, this is yet to be announced. However, the position is slightly different in Wales given the most recent proposals issued on the 10th July 2018 to scrap the Basic Payment Scheme by 2025.
Wales – Recent Announcement
Carys Studley of Rostons comments that instead “two new schemes would replace this payment which are an Economic Resilience (ER Scheme) that would target payments at specific capital projects i.e. machinery purchases, processing facilities, livestock housing or diversification.”
The second scheme, the Public Goods Scheme (PG), would offer an income stream for named public good outcomes which could include initiatives farmers can deliver to improve water quality, reduce flood risk, improve habitats or conserve soil.
This current proposition is causing some concern as it currently stands and it is understood that more than 15,000 Welsh farm businesses would be affected by the replacement of the Basic Payment Scheme.
This will be heavily consulted on prior to any launch and Rostons will be continuing to update their clients. The industry has reacted to this announcement by stating it will have a massive impact on Welsh agriculture and a knock-on effect across the rural economy.