Mr. Paul Savage:

In next programme, it will depend on the outcome of the negotiations on the next CAP framework. We do not know what that will look like. We had to comply with the new framework this time around and there was quite a considerable change. This round of CAP reform we are implementing is quite a considerable departure from previous CAP reforms.

It is quite extensive compared with previous reforms. We had to make quite considerable changes, not just to the schemes we were used to from an environmental point of view, such as the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, in the past, but the new schemes we introduced. For argument's sake, if member states agreed in the next CAP negotiation that they wanted to have an evolution rather than the revolution we have gone through over the past couple of years, and if it were a case of steady as she goes and taking things forward in a more measured way, from our point view, we would have much more scope to move forward in a way that would not be as disruptive, shall we say, as has been the case with all these new schemes we have introduced over the past two years. That is certainly possible. In a way, however, that will be dictated by the outcome of the CAP negotiations next time around, the flexibility we will have in responding to those negotiations and the new regulatory framework, and putting in place the measures that we can. As I said, we will try to do that but it will depend on the framework.

I will very quickly answer the point on TAMS being slow to get off the ground. That is also related to the fact that we are, and were, concurrently introducing a range of schemes across the board. We had to make a lot of changes to TAMS compared with the last time around. The approvals were slow in getting up and running. If we look at the figures I quoted, however, and we publish our TAMS figures weekly on the website, it will be seen that the approvals have been picking up in a very consistent and considerable way. We are pretty much through the first two tranches of approvals for TAMS 3. We are working through tranche 3 and are also into the stage where we are starting to process payments. We are catching up. It is hoped that when the current tranche closes in September, we will be at the point of essentially catching up and getting back in line with the timelines we saw previously under TAMS 2. That would be approximately 14 weeks from the point where an application-----