EU sugar reform a battle, says Boel

Altering the EU sugar regime will bring bitter political battles because it has been left largely untouched since being set up in 1968, Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel admitted during a speech in Paris.

But she also warned that the EU cannot hide from those battles because the system simply cannot carry on as it is. She said the CAP must form a coherent whole.

And, at present, it does not. Since the reforms of 2003 and 2004, in most sectors, it supports farmers rather than production, she said.

Farmers receive a decoupled subsidy as a safety net, and have the freedom to produce what the market wants.