Sarkozy CAP reform call a blow
Under President Jacques Chirac, France resisted CAP reform, and it was pressure from Chirac that forced EU leaders to agree to keep the present system in place until 2013.
But now that Sarkozy has said he will propose a new Common Agricultural Policy, farmers won’t be surprised if the 2008 CAP ‘health check’ ushers in greater changes than previously expected, because the main “CAP conservative” member state — with which Ireland normally sided in the major negotiations — appears more willing to accept change.
