Lyon: New Agriculture Commissioner can talk the talk but now has to deliver

10.23.00am GMT Fri 15th Jan 2010

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, has voted to confirm Dacian Ciolos as the new European Agriculture Commissioner.

After an intense three hour grilling by Agriculture Committee members, Coordinators including Mr Lyon decided to unanimously back the Romanian.

Commenting, Mr Lyon said:

"There were real concerns about whether Mr Ciolos had the political clout within the Commission to fight off the threat of substantial cuts to the CAP budget.

"Despite these fears, Mr Ciolos acquitted himself well during the hearings. He demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of the challenges facing farmers and showed real commitment to the fight for a sustainable future for the industry.

"He has showed he can talk the talk but he now has to show us he can deliver. In all my discussions with him over the last six weeks he has taken a keen interest in Scotland and I believe he is a man we can work with."