HC Deb 31 October 2002 vol 391 c927W
Mr. Connarty

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures are being taken to reconcile the CAP with the coming enlargement of the EU. [77033]

Mr. MacShane

At the Brussels European Council on 24 October 2002, the EU agreed to phase in direct payments for the new member states over nine years (2004–2013). To help limit the cost of extending CAP to the new member states, the EU also agreed to put a ceiling on traditional CAP expenditure between 2007 and 2013 based on its 2006 levels. This is without prejudice to possible CAP reform in the context of the mid term review and the Doha development round, which the Government strongly advocates.

Mr. Swire

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts concerning the Common Agricultural Policy. [77944]

Mr. MacShane

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has discussed the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with EU colleagues on a number of occasions over the last few weeks. As the Prime Minister made clear to the House on 28 October, the Government remain firmly committed to a thorough reform of the CAP, consistent with the commitments that we and our EU partners made at the Doha WTO Ministerial and WSSD in Johannesburg. The conclusions of the Brussels European Council recall those commitments made at Doha.