Scotland is unlikely to face fines running into the millions as a result of late payments, the European Commission has indicated to the Farmers Journal Scotland.

This comes two weeks after Audit Scotland suggested that the Scottish Government would miss the deadline and be landed with a fine of up to £60m.

Applications have been processed at double the speed within the last few weeks. If there are still outstanding applications after the deadline, the number is likely to be so small that any penalty will be modest and far removed from the initial threat.

The Farmers Journal Scotland understands that while there has been a request for an extension to the payment deadline, the Commission is unlikely to provide it, given that the payment rate has been ramped up significantly in recent weeks.

It is also understood that little credence is being paid to the request in Brussels, given that one of the reasons provided by Scotland was that it received an extension in 2016.

The Commission has received a request from Scotland for an extension but it is adopting a wait-and-see approach with regards to the volume of payments it is issuing.

The Commission is understood to be happy with the progress made in recent weeks.

Speaking after the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee meeting on Wednesday, Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing said 15,115 BPS and greening payments worth some £311m have now been issued. This represents approximately 82% of the total payments.

“The very latest assessment looks like we may miss the target of 95.24% by a small amount. However, our priority remains completing payments for farmers and crofters as quickly as possible in the coming weeks. That is what farmers are entitled to expect, and we are sparing no effort to deliver it,” Ewing said.

The Cabinet Secretary again pointed to the fact that £275m was “made available via BPS loans” in order to provide farmers with “important financial security.”