George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has restated his view that the UK agriculture minister Jim Paice should not hesitate to wield the big stick of compulsory milk contracts if the dairy trade fail to reach agreement with producer representatives on a voluntary code of conduct for the milk industry.

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland and Vice-President of the European Parliament's Budget Committee, wants MEP allowances to be frozen until the end of this legislature in 2014 and is calling for a curb on travel expenses and a freeze on administrative spending for all EU institutions.

Commenting ahead of a vote on the 2013 EU budget guidelines in the European Parliament in Strasbourg tomorrow, Mr Lyon said:

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has held wide ranging discussions on CAP reform with the German government including Dr Freidrech Guth who heads up the Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

He also met with Gerd Sonnleitner, the President of both the German Farmers Union and COPA-COGECA.

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has warned that the Commission's new plans to compensate farmers affected by trade deals such as Mercosur are a poisoned chalice and should be rejected.

Under the plans, farmers hit by falling prices due to trade deals would not be compensated by increasing direct payments or coupled payments through the CAP.

EU Commissioner John Dali has revealed that action has already begun at European level to punish Member States that have made little or no effort to conform to new welfare laws.

The Commissioner said that letters have already been sent to Member States informing them they will be taken to court for failing to comply with law to outlaw battery cages.

Following a meeting with European Health Commissioner Dalli, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland George Lyon has welcomed the Commissioner's willingness to examine an NFU and NSA proposal to make sheep identification simpler and more flexible for Scottish farmers.

Commissioner Dalli told Mr Lyon that he was willing to examine any proposals that might simplify the EID system while retaining the spirit of the legislation. He was happy for Mr Lyon to join with the NFU and NSA to present their ideas to his senior officials for consideration.

Mr Lyon also thanked the Commissioner for agreeing to the request by the UK Government to postpone the date when old ewes would be brought in to the EID system until 1st Jan 2015.

Commenting after the meeting, Mr Lyon said:

"It was a very constructive meeting and I am pleased that the Commissioner is willing to consider further simplification of the EID system.

"His decision to agree to the UK Government's proposal to delay the old ewes coming into the EID system until 2015 demonstrates he understands the practical difficulties that Scottish sheep farmers are facing.

"He has now agreed that we can present to his senior officials the NFU and NSA proposal to tweak the rules further and allow farmers a move to a more flexible single flock tag system that would allow home bred ewes to run through their breeding life on one tag with the double tag rule only kicking in when they left the holding.

"I intend to work closely with both the NFU and the NSA to take advantage of this opportunity to improve the sheep EID scheme that is causing so much concern among farmers and I hope a meeting can be arranged first thing in the New Year."

NFU Scotland President Nigel Miller added:

"I am delighted that Commissioner Dalli has had an opportunity to view the briefing paper on Regulation 21/2004 that NFU Scotland prepared for last week's Scottish summit on the problems surrounding the electronic tagging of sheep. We need a two-pronged approach to the difficulties Scotland's sheep farmers are experiencing with the rules. On a home front, we will continue to work with Scottish Government on compliance issues, while on a European basis, we have consistently argued for a wholesale review of the regulation at the earliest opportunity.

"As part of that review, we would want to see Scottish farmers given the flexibility that would only require them to electronically tag their sheep when they leave the holding of birth. That would be a real breakthrough while having no negative impact on the traceability that regulation 21/2004 seeks to deliver. It would allow a single flock mark to be used on farm, help avoid costly retagging and ear damage and take the pressure off the bureaucracy that currently surrounds record keeping.

"This is a very helpful intervention by George Lyon MSP and if it opens the door to further discussions with Commission officials on sheep EID, then that is an opportunity that we will gladly take."

At a meeting between rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs of the European Agriculture Committee and senior Commission officials it was revealed that farmers' accounts will be scrutinised each year by the authorities to prove they met the active farmer test on agricultural turnover.

The Commission also confirmed that if farmers were above the proposed capping threshold they would also need to provide their farm accounts to prove what their staff costs were each year so that could be taken into account when deciding whether the cap was to be applied.

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has welcomed the decision of the European Commission to extend the deadline for the compulsory electronic tagging of sheep born before 1 January 2010 to the end of 2014.

Commenting, Mr Lyon said:

"This is welcome breathing space for sheep farmers who are experiencing huge problems with the implementation of EID.

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has welcomed the Coalition Government's announcement that tough action will be taken to stop eggs from battery caged hens being sold in the UK.

As of 1st January 2012, eggs that are produced in battery cages will be illegal. It is estimated that up to 51 million eggs, or a nearly a quarter of all EU production, will not be compliant by that date.

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has welcomed the European Parliament's Internal Market Committee decision to drop proposals which would have put ATVs, used for essential farm and forestry work, and Dual-Use quadricycles, used as road recreational vehicles, into the same category.

This would have increased costs for ATV users through servicing, tax and insurance and there was a danger that manufacturers of ATVs would stop supplying them to the market as they will be no longer be fit for purpose.