Drnovsek Urges EU Leaders to Tackle Crucial Problems
President Janez Drnovsek has addressed a letter to EU heads of state and government in which he calls for the ratification of the EU constitution, cuts in farm subsidies, the elimination of the British rebate and increased funding for Lisbon Strategy objectives. In a letter sent two days before the informal EU summit in Great Britain, Drnovsek said that "too much energy and good will has been invested in the EU constitution to simply abandon the project." In the light of further rounds of EU enlargement, the EU needs an institutional framework, so the heads of state and government should tackle this project with a fresh impetus, Drnovsek was quoted as saying by his office on Tuesday, 25 October. Drnovsek is also convinced that the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) is a key factor in negotiations on the 2007-2013 budget framework. It has to be reformed, he said, proposing a reduction of tier-one farm subsidies from 100% to 75%. At the same time, Drnovsek would like to see an increase in funding for rural development, in particular the growing of biological produce. This should become the main priority of European agriculture, he said. The president moreover backed the formation of a globalisation fund, an idea proposed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who also received Drnovsek's letter.
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