Little backing for EU farm policy reform

The European Union is unlikely to make profound changes to its agriculture policy after 2013. "About twenty of the 27 countries want to maintain the current regulated market system", the French minister for agriculture Michel Barnier said at an informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers in the French city Annecy on Tuesday.

Dutch farming minister Gerda Verburg belongs to the minority that advocates a more market-orientated strategy towards farming, although she does not believe that governments should leave their farming sectors entirely to the will of the market.

"Food remains a primary necessity", Verburg said. She wants the EU to provide no more than a safety net for farmers in times of agricultural crises. This would include epidemics like the recent outbreaks of bird flu and bluetongue. Barnier wants to continue to regulate prices to ensure guaranteed incomes for farmers.

Traditionally the British, Scandinavians and Dutch are more inclined towards liberalising agriculture while France and Germany have a long tradition of backing aid for farmers. The other Mediterranean and new Eastern European member states, which have large rural populations, support the French position.

Farm subsidies take up almost 40 percent of the EU budget - some 40 billion euros a year. The current policy is set to be revised by 2013 while agricultural budget specifics are to be discussed next spring.