British Agriculture Secretary says he supports Poland's agriculture policies

British Agriculture Secretary Nick Brown says he supports Poland's agricultural policies and adds that the Common Agriculture Policy governing European Union (EU) members should not stand in the way of Poland's timely accession to the EU. Brown also emphasized that EU membership should not be divided between those with access to CAP programs and those without it. British officials argue that EU enlargement may provide an ideal opportunity to reform the costly CAP system and point to EU members' need to decide whether or not agriculture programs of all new members, including Poland, would be entitled to the same kinds of subsidies and intervention. According to Brown, it would be better if the EU invested money generated from CAP into the development of rural areas. Polish negotiators will have to decide if they should continue to subsidize Polish agriculture, even if it is obvious that the EU does not have sufficient funds for it, or if they should consider the possibility of helping to reform CAP. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.23)