Farm council: ministers grapple with consequences of Cancun at informal

摘要

EU Farm Ministers meeting for informal talks in the Sicilian resort of Taormina are putting their heads together to work out a post-Cancun strategy, in the wake of the abortive World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler said on September 22 that he remains committed to multilateralism, and will be looking for a way of making European farm policy understood to the world's developing countries. But he admitted that a new process might be necessary in the world tradetalks to overcome the barriers to agreement raised at Cancun. He also explained the urgent need to reform the EU's subsidy-heavy sugar regime in sharp contradiction to the hopes of the EU's sugar industry. Getting a sneak preview of the Commission's September 23 Communication on CAP reform for Mediterranean products, Italy expressed concern over plans to refocus tobacco support away from production, while Spain is worried about olive oil reform.