By Prensa Latina,
Ljubljana : Agriculture ministers from the European Union (EU) began a three-day meeting in Slovenia to discuss reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), amid rising global food prices.
The officials will also analyze the role of the production of biofuels in the hike of food prices. A document prepared by the Slovenian presidency refers to the increase of corn cultivation in the United States to produce ethanol.
The CAP reform bill, which they seek for an agreement before concluding 2008, will also be addressed.
The reforms made by the European Commission envisage increased rates of modulation, increases in milk quotas and the phasing out of more production-linked support payments.
The CAP revision takes places amid the global food crisis, which is responsible for an 80-percent rise in the price of cereals, and 50-percent rise of dairy products only in 2007, while costs will continue growing.
“We must clear away obstacles which are hindering farmers’ responses to market signals,” European Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said while unveiling the proposal.
Fischer Boel believes food shortage can be solved by the liberalization of the dairy product market.
This is the first meeting of the EU agriculture ministers, after the European Commission outlined the CAP reforms.