Trade talks not to dictate EU policy

THE European Union will not allow the world trade talks to be the main driver of its domestic policy for farms and rural areas in the years ahead.

Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel made this clear when she addressed an Agra Europe outlook conference on the prospects for Common Agricultural Policy reform in London.

“Some of our trade partners seem to think the European Union should agree to swallow just about anything in these negotiations in terms of agricultural concessions, even if that means re-modelling the CAP all over again,” she said.