Agriculture ministers confident of securing deal on subsidies

European Union farm ministers voiced growing optimism yesterday that the long-running controversy over plans for an overhaul of the EU's €42 billion system of farm support could be resolved by next month.

"We are close to the endgame," said Ms Margaret Beckett, Britain's agriculture minister, at a meeting with her counterparts. Ms Renate Kunast, the German agriculture minister, said: "I expect there will be a decision by June."

The four-day meeting on the Greek island of Corfu could mark a turning point in the struggle over the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP), which has been raging since Mr Franz Fischler, EU farm commissioner, unveiled a sweeping reform package in January.

Since then, the European Commission and the 15 EU member- states have been locked in talks, though there had been few signs so far that the opposing camps were nearing a compromise. Led by France, traditionally the most vocal supporter of the status quo, there is still a solid majority that believes Mr Fischler's plans go too far.

But in an attempt to break the deadlock, ministers have now set up a high-level working group comprising their administrations' most senior officials, which will meet for the first time this week. In addition, the Commission has embarked on a string of bilateral talks with member-states to forge a compromise.

Mr Fischler is confident the efforts will pay off. "In my view it is becoming more and more clear that we will have a decision in June," he said. Some Brussels officials agree: "I don't think there would have been this high-level group if the Commission was not pretty sure that they can get some compromise," said one diplomat from a member-state.

Another diplomat pointed out that even France had been working "very constructively" to solve some of the more technical difficulties of the reforms, indicating that Paris was taking a softer line than expected.

However, there was no shift in the official French line yesterday, with Mr Herve Gaymard, the French agriculture minister, reiterating his country's opposition to the broad thrust of the reforms.

Time is running out fast. Mr Fischler wants the reform to be in place in time for a summit of World Trade Organisation ministers in Cancun, Mexico, in September. With agriculture widely seen as the make-or-break issue of the current Doha round of trade talks, the EU is under intense pressure from its trading partners to curb the excesses of the CAP. - (Financial Times Service)