§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his statement of 11 May 2000,Official Report, column 1036, concerning hedgerows, if the 643W European Commission has abandoned plans to re-interpret IACS rules in a way that would penalise farmers for maintaining hedgerows over a given width. [122992]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 22 May 2000]: The European Commission has accepted that we should continue for this year to apply our existing rules and practices for measuring field margins. As regards 2001 and subsequent years, MAFF officials are continuing to work with the Commission Services to clarify what types of margins will be acceptable for inclusion in aid claims.