South West MEP Julie Girling has welcomed proposals from the European Commission to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy, with fairer penalties on farmers.

The Commission has proposed a new "yellow card" system, with penalties slashed for genuine mistakes by famers.

Mrs Girling said: "This should be very good news for farmers. Greater simplicity has to be the way forward and I hope this marks the start of a culture change for agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). I worked very hard to get this yellow card system included in the CAP proposals three years ago and was disappointed that it didn't make the final agreement. I'm glad the Commission has now understood how unfair the current system is.

"When regulation is complicated, then mistakes creep in and the error rate for CAP applications soars.

"We need light and simple regulation together with fair and transparent penalties if we are not to to have distrust and fear.

"Some MEPs have been to quick to complicate things in the past. Now they must start to help farmers and make sure this proposal gets firmed up as soon as possible."