Prague, 12/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - During his meeting with Agriculture Ministers from all the 13 candidate countries on 7 November , Franz Fischler, Commissioner for Agriculture stressed the need for "realism and pragmatism". Recalling the decisions taken by the European Council of Brussels, Mr Fischler warned that changes to negotiating positions, which incurred additional budgetary expenditure would be the most difficult to accept. "Don't forget that the money for the phasing in of direct payments for the new members after 2006 will not fall from the sky - it has to be found within the ceiling now established". The Commissioner also warned that it was not the moment to try to circumvent the EU offer by ingenious financial constructions involving the transfer of funds from one box to another. "This would not reflect the decision of the European Council in Brussels to boost rural development in the future". Mr Fischler also called on Ministers to get down to the business of explaining the proposals to their farmers as soon as negotiations were concluded, "At the end of the day, you will need to convince your farmers that they will be better off inside the EU than outside the EU. I would suggest that you start the process now." The Commissioner was keen to emphasise during a press conference that the EU side was still prepared to be flexible but that this flexibility, especially on the issue of phasing in of direct aid, was "clearly limited".