Spain declared itself the loser when EU Farm Ministers finally reached political agreement on the controversial Mediterranean agriculture reform on April 22 in Luxembourg. Speaking after a long night of negotiations, Spanish Agriculture Minister ElenaEspinosa Mangana said Spain could not accept a package which went so far against its interests. The only EU country with a major stake in all four Mediterranean crops later agreed to vote in favour of the reform after it won concessions on olive oil andcotton in the Special Committee of Agriculture (SCA) meeting which finalised the legal texts on April 26. Denmark and Sweden indicated that they would vote against the compromise on tobacco. But the Irish Presidency has cause to celebrate, managing to push through a tricky dossier that has been dogged with disputes since it was proposed last Autumn. The reform aims to break the link between the aid paid to farmers and the amount they produce. The new decoupled payments will be determined by levels paid in the past.
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