---

In her first official visit to the United States, European Union Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel, addressed an audience of some 120 trade experts, NGO representatives, and government officials on the future direction of European agriculture policy. During a luncheon discussion hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) on September 14, Commissioner Fischer Boel defended EU reforms to date, but acknowledged that Europe and the United States need to do more to make a success of the Doha Round by the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial in December.

Acknowledging that Europe has not yet fully done away with the old-style tools of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Fischer Boel went on to say that “the overall direction [of EU agriculture policy] is completely clear — support for output will be giving way to support for farmers.” She also indicated support for environmental services, and for the diversification of Europe’s rural economy.

The Commissioner also recognized that Europe must to move forward on market access in WTO negotiations, noting that “cuts in tariffs will mean a real increase in market access.” She said that the EU is prepared to negotiate on this issue with G20 nations. Many of her government level meetings in Washington were aimed at ameliorating current differences between Europe and the United States in the Doha Round’s agricultural negotiations, and she noted she was hopeful for a positive resolution to tariff and agricultural access issues.

She presented a vision in which European farmers would be more entrepreneurial and “no longer [be] subsidy slaves,” more environmentally responsible, and able to hold their heads high in the global trading system with respect to developing countries. To get there, she indicated that the European Union would be willing to make further cuts in domestic support, phase out export subsidies, and lower import tariffs. In the future, she concluded, “EU agriculture spending would be much more about how it is spent rather than how much is spent.”

An increasingly contentious issue in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands — as in the United States — has been transparency in reporting on who gets farm subsidies and how much they get. Mrs. Fischer Boel said that although reporting lay in the hands of the EU Member States, the European Commission would be encouraging openness with the data. “The moment that these payments are visible for everybody, there will be political pressure to lower payments,” she acknowledged. As Denmark’s Agriculture Minister, Mariann Fischer Boel took a brave stand in releasing data on farm payments, for which she took heated criticism.

After her remarks, Commissioner Fischer Boel engaged in a lengthy and dynamic dialogue with the participants, elaborating further on the key issues in the transatlantic and global agricultural relationship.

Click here for the full text of EU Commissioner Fischer Boel's speech.