THE European Commission's proposals to reform the CAP by "decoupling" livestock support offer great opportunities for the sheep sector in England and Wales.

Kevin Pearce, NFU chief livestock adviser, told North Sheep03 that replacing production-based subsidies with a single farm payment would bring greater business flexibility.

"If they are agreed, producers will no longer be restricted by quotas, retention periods and the administrative burdens of the current support systems. Instead, they will be able to focus on producing lamb and maximising market opportunities."

However, he said suggestions that there should be partial decoupling instead of full decoupling would be extremely bad news for sheep producers.

"The suggestions from some member states that there should be a mixture of the current livestock support schemes and a new decoupled scheme would result in the worst of all worlds for sheep producers," he said.

"This would bring increased bureaucracy and more barriers for producers aiming to focus on the market.

"European farm ministers must seize this opportunity to break the livestock sector free from the shackles of the livestock support system and replace it with a payment structure that supports farmers in a way that is not over-bureaucratic and not market distorting."

The CAP reform measures were first outlined in January. Agriculture ministers are expected to agree to them at the Luxembourg Agriculture Council on June 11 and 12. Implementing regulations will then have to be drafted and agreed later in the year