THE European Union may decide to change direction to some extent, but there is no need for completely rewriting the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

THE end of export refunds was signalled by European Farm Commissioner Marian Fischer Boel at a seminar in Brussels yesterday.

AGRICULTURE Minister Mary Coughlan has told her fellow EU ministers she is not in favour of most of the European Commission’s plans to change the union’s annual €48.5 billion farm budget, including capping the amount of money any one farmer could receive.

THE European Union’s €88 billion rural development budget over the next six years must be spent well, Commissioner Marian Fischer Boel has warned.

A MAJOR step in simplifying the complex Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), long regarded as a quagmire of red tape, has been taken by the European Commission.

THE Irish and French agriculture ministers yesterday expressed concern about the implications of a new world trade agreement.