EU Ministers are split over farm reform proposals

In the run up to the Ministerial consideration of the Commission proposals for the mid-term review of the CAP on July 15th 2002, divisions between EU member statesemerged. Spain's Agricultural Minister and major farming unions rejected the proposals, while in Austria the Minister and farming unions were concerned that the proposals would strike at the heart of Austrian agriculture, resulting in a major down-sizing. In France there was opposition to the proposals on the grounds that they went beyond the 1999 Berlin agreement. Italian agricultural unions have however welcomed the proposals while the Dutch Agricultural Minister has described them as 'courageous'. Comment: The Commission proposals are likely to be subjected to considerable modification within the EU Agricultural Council. However, the proposals do signal clearly the direction in which EU agricultural policy is moving. The time frames may change subject to the individual positions of EU member states, but the direction is wholly consistent with the trajectory for reform set out in 1992. The pressures arising from the WTO and enlargement are likely to counterbalance efforts of EU member states to ameliorate the impact of individual reforms on sectors of importance to their economies.In the run up to the Ministerial consideration of the Commission proposals for..