Brussels, 07/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Portugal and Romania have joined the governments of France and Germany in their stance in calling for a strong common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2013. French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire had separate meetings at the start of the week with his Portuguese and Romanian opposite numbers, António Serrano and Valeriu Tabara. For Portugal and Romania, as for France, a strong CAP must be “built on two complementary pillars which guarantee that farming will be maintained throughout the whole of Europe, thereby contributing to food security”. For that, it must have “a budget that matches the level of its ambition”. The three ministers say that the CAP “must bring fresh market regulation to protect farmers from price volatility. This will mean more effective and more responsive market instruments and better structuring of sectors”. These countries also hail the European Commission proposal for a general market disruption clause and advocate “enhancing the legitimacy of the CAP” including through greening first pillar (direct aid and market spending) aid. (L.C./transl.rt)