06/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - Before the Christmas break, the European Commission adopted a proposal with a view to concluding an EU/Bulgaria agreement aimed at consolidating all the existing trade preferences and later liberalising agricultural trade between the EU and this EU membership applicant country. The draft Protocol, which has still to be approved by the Council and by Bulgaria, aims to facilitate the gradual integration of the respective agricultural markets and to prepare the Bulgarian operators in the farm sector. The agreement, a Commission press release states, could result in a preferential trade agreement between the EU and Bulgaria amounting to EUR 300 million. It mainly comprises reciprocal and complete liberalisation for over 200 products and the introduction of new duty-free tariff quotas for cereals, eggs, fruit and vegetables.