Brussels, 06/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Agriculture Ministers from candidate countries have been invited to discuss with their E15 counterparts (on Tuesday in Nyborg on the Island of Funen) the subject o innovation in the agro-foods sector (see EUROPE 28 August p 6). No-one is in any doubt that this informal meeting, Chaired by the Danish Foods Minister, Mariann Fischer Boel, will give vent to opinions on integration of future Member States in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in the knowledge that the European Commission will have the last say on official proposals on the agricultural chapter in enlargement and that it will submit it at the end of the month to the Council. Ms Fischer Boel introduced the debate with the following words, "I am highly please that the candidate countries will participate in the Council decision on innovation of the agricultural sector of Europe. The EU is facing many changes, and this applies not least to the agricultural sector. In my opinion, we need innovation of the agricultural sector and agricultural policy. We want trade to be competitive in an increasingly global market, and we want it to be able to meet consumers' demands for safe food of high quality. At the same time, we must ensure sustainable production, and innovation should develop in co-operation with research and consumer protection policy. An agricultural policy that perpetuates the status quo has no future".
Member State Agriculture Ministers and Commissioner David Byrne and Franz Fischler (consumer protection and agriculture respectively) will arrive in Nyborg on Saturday and will participate in the two days that follow beginning with sightseeing (visit to the Carl Nielsen Museum, the writer Hans Christian Andersen's house and Rosborg Gartneri). On Monday afternoon Ministers from candidate countries will arrive in Nyborg to participate in an evening meal at the Valdemar Castle on the Island of Taasinge.