On 15 September 2015 Cllr Anthony Buchanan, vice-president of the NAT commission and the CoR Rapporteur on CAP simplification was invited by European Parliament to give the presentation on the implementation of the second pillar of the CAP perspective during the Hearing on implementing the CAP at regional level.
"Agricultural subsidies are under harsh scrutiny as they favour the largest and most productive farms and have accentuated regional specialization and increasingly concentrated farming systems, resulting in significant regional disparities. One underlying objective of rural development policy is to offset the disparities engendered by subsidies granted under the first pillar of the CAP." – Cllr Buchanan said.
He added: "As local authorities are increasingly involved in financing second pillar subsidies, it is worthwhile considering whether that involvement best serves the objectives of improving fairness and territorial cohesion and whether the regions are employing aid under the Rural Development Regulation (RDR) to address their socio-economic priorities and adapt their input to specific local and regional challenges."
