Do not fear the Health Check, Mariann Fischer Boel tells Welsh farmers

EU Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has reassured farmers that her forthcoming Health Check of the Common Agricultural Policy will bring no drastic reforms.

Speaking on the first day of the Royal Welsh Show at Builth Wells, Powys, Mrs Fischer Boel said the Health Check was not being implemented because Brussels believed the system was failing.

“Things have moved significantly ahead since we introduced our reforms in 2003. We are now 27 member states. This does not mean a new reform. It is an opportunity to slimline our current policy.

“Our ongoing mission is to support farmers and rural communities all over Europe and here in Wales.”

Mrs Fischer Boel also quelled speculation that member states would be able to trade milk quota, telling the Farmers Union of Wales she believed such a scheme would be too difficult to implement.

The Commission would conduct an impact assessment on how the ending of quotas, pegged for 2015, would affect EU agriculture, Mrs Fischer Boel said.