COPA concern over South America

Dublin: COPA, which represents 11 million farmers across Europe, said in Dublin yesterday it was amazed that the European Commission seems willing to use agriculture as a bargaining chip to get access to South American markets.

President Peter Gaemelke who was speaking at the end of a two-day COPA Praesidium at the RDS, with the IFA as hosts, again expressed concern about the commission’s latest offer to eliminate export subsidies.

“This deal would inevitably mean a reduction in European farmers’ share of their domestic markets in core sectors such as cereals, meat, dairy, sugar as well as cutting off EU farmers from the potential growth in bio fuels,” he said.