Commissioner may be prepared to allow national governments more flexibility in implementing reform. Seán MacConnell Agriculture Correspondent reports.
Following an exhaustive round of bilateral talks involving the 15 EU farm ministers and the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Franz Fischler, a new compromise paper on CAP reform was expected early this morning in Luxembourg.
Initial reports from the meetings last night were that Mr Fischler had not moved far enough away from his original proposals to bring a speedy agreement to what was being billed as the most radical reform of the CAP in decades.
Mr Fischler has proposed breaking the links between direct payments to farmers and what they produce, cutting the levels of these payments progressively two years from now and imposing severe cuts in market supports for the dairy sector.
The Government and the main farm organisations here are totally opposed to Mr Fischler's package fearing the proposals would weaken our beef and dairy base.
The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, has said that the reduction in farm supports from 2006, would cost the Irish economy more than €460 million over the term of the agreement.
Decoupling production from payments, he insisted, would lead to a drop in our beef and sheep herds with a knock-on impact on the processing and food industries.
Yesterday morning, Mr Fischler made it clear there was little room for further compromise, and he would be making a final offer.
"Nobody should believe we are playing a game here, that we will present another compromise and another tomorrow," he said.
He said his compromise paper would be "no lame compromise" but nevertheless voiced optimism that it would be accepted.
Mr Fischler chaired a full session of the Ministerial Council for an hour and then sought bi-laterals with all the Ministers to check their views.
Mr Walsh did not go into his meeting with Mr Fischler until late last evening and there was little information from the other bi-laterals on Mr Fischler's thoughts. However, the pace at which the meetings proceeded indicated that a lot of work will have to be done before any agreement is reached.
It was being suggested in Luxembourg last night that Mr Fischler was prepared to allow national governments more flexibility in how they implemented his reform package. It was being suggested that he was not opposed to what was being termed "regional solutions" to accommodate the diversity of farming activities across the EU.
A similar proposal which was put forward at last week's meeting, which broke up without agreement, was severely criticised by the Irish Farmers Association president, Mr John Dillon, who described it as "a re-nationalisation of the CAP".
There were also indications that the French, who had been leading the opposition to the reforms, especially decoupling, were prepared to talk about the issue and could opt for partial decoupling on certain crops.
France has enlisted the help of Germany in resisting the reforms which only have the full support of two countries, the United Kingdom and Sweden.
They believe that reform of the CAP on which nearly half of the EU's €100 billion budget is spent annually, is long overdue unlike the Germans and French who are the main beneficiaries of the system which has been in place for over 40 years.
Mr Fischler is anxious to have the CAP reformed ahead of the world trade negotiations which begin in Cancun, Mexico, in September next so he can defend the EU from charges of over-subsidising agriculture.