Boel gets message via blog

FARMERS who use the internet should visit Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel’s new blog website, and leave a message for the woman who — probably more than anyone else — determines their livelihood.

The clamour of calls on the Commissioner from all 27 member states illustrates how difficult Common Agricultural Policy decision-making can be.

The Commissioner says it’s very important to her to listen to real people — farmers, and the consumers on which agriculture ultimately relies. She has used her “blog” to hammer home some of her main messages. “If we don’t make what the consumers want to eat they simply go elsewhere,” she says.