§ 23. Mr. DrewTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has for speeding up change to the common agricultural policy; and what policy priorities he will promote in its place. [7300]
§ Mr. RookerThe Government's objective is to secure a more market-oriented Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) through the phasing out of production related support. The Commission is expected to produce272W legislative proposals for reform of several key sectors of the CAP later this year. Making progress on discussion of these will be a priority for the UK Presidency of the Agriculture Council.
§ Mr. Peter BradleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his discussions with his European Union counterparts about the reform of the common agricultural policy. [8722]
§ Mr. RookerMy right hon. Friend, the Minister, has had a number of discussions with the Commission and with Ministers of other Member States, in which he has made clear the need for early radical reform of the CAP. The strength of our argument has been broadly accepted by the Commission in its "Agenda 2000" paper which was published yesterday. We look forward to leading the debate on this and on the legislative proposals for reform which the Commission should produce later in the year.