Czechs seek united front among EU candidates on agricultural policy

The Czech Republic will, during a meeting later this week, seek to unite European Union (EU) candidate countries in their approach to membership talks on the key issue of agricultural policy, chief Czech EU negotiator Pavel Telicka said yesterday. Telicka told journalists that high on the agenda at the two-day meeting, to be held in the spa town of Karlovy Vary, 130 kilometers west of Prague, would be forming a united front on agr icultural policy, and in particular access to the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) funds. EU sources have said the European Commission (EC) is likely to propose later this month that direct payments to farmers in new member states should be phased in over 10 years. The starting level of aid is likely to be 20% to 25% of the amounts existing EU states receive. However, Poland in particular, with its large and influential farming population, is likely to find it difficult to accept such limits on as sistance. (Reuters)