EU sugar reform plans pose threat

THE proposed reforms of the EU sugar regime have serious implications for the 650 workers in the Irish sugar industry and for the country’s 3,800 beet growers.

Ireland East MEP Mairead McGuinness, speaking in Brussels yesterday, said an initial impact assessment, carried out by the European Commission into the proposed reforms, points out that Ireland is one of the most vulnerable countries.

The reforms would make sugar beet-growing no longer viable in some member states, including Ireland.