DACIAN CIOLOS, the Romanian nominated to replace Mariann Fischer-Boel as EU Agriculture Commissioner, met with Scots MEPs this week in Brussels – and agreed to visit Scotland within the next six months to see our agricultural industry at first-hand, writes Gordon Davidson.

Mr Ciolos, along with all the other Commissioners-designate, is still to face the European Parliament vote which will either accept or reject the proposed Commission line-up as a whole.

SNP MEP Alyn Smith said that he had enjoyed a “cordial” meeting with Mr Ciolos, discussing his proposals for a European Farm Prices and Margins Observatory, which now sits in the commissioner’s in-tray for action.

Mr Ciolos outlined how he, as Agriculture Minister in Romania, actually brought in legislation to deal with the thorny problem of the difference between the amount producers receive and the amount consumers pay.

“I, like most of mainstream Scottish opinion, was initially positive about Mr Ciolos being the Romanian appointee, and after our meeting I feel confirmed in that optimism,” said Mr Smith. “The former Agriculture Minister has a solid grasp of the issues, and is very much looking to implement a ‘one-Europe’ policy for agriculture, breaking down the artificial divisions between old member states and new.

“We in Scotland have emphatically nothing to fear from this approach, as any needs based CAP will see Scottish farmers supported adequately,” suggested Mr Smith.

“I was impressed with his openness and willingness to listen. We are clearly not going to agree on everything all the time, but where we had a constructive relationship with Mariann Fischer-Boel, I feel we will continue those constructive approach with her successor.”

Scottish Lib-Dem MEP George Lyon also had a one-to-one meeting with Mr Ciolos, where he ‘insisted’ that he make an early visit to Scotland to see at first hand the many challenges that Scottish farmers are facing today.

“It is vital he understands the situation through Scottish eyes, and not just through a long distance lens from Brussels,” said Mr Lyon, who reported that Mr Ciolos had been ‘very knowledgeable’ about farming, having ‘got his hands dirty’ on his family’s smallholding in Transylvania.

Mr Ciolos also assured Mr Lyon that, despite his French connections via family and friends, he was not ‘in the pocket’ of France’s Eurocrats.

“He certainly knows his subject,” said Mr Lyon. “The question to be answered now is, does he have enough political clout to get his own way?”