The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service carries a useful report of the meeting in Warsaw on 3 February last attended by the agricultural ministers from the new Member States which concluded with a declaration on the future of the CAP after 2013. Its a fairly uncompromising defence of a large agricultural budget after 2013. The USDA notes that not only are the NMS sore about the unequal distribution of direct payments, but they are rapidly losing ground in the production of primary agricultural commodities. Poland, for example, now imports more pork than it exports, while meat and dairy exports from West to East have surged. The declaration was signed by ten Member States, including Estonia which is sometimes seen as part of the CAP reform camp. Only the Czech Republic attended as an observer but did not sign. The USDA FAS report contains the translation of the agreed declaration which can also be downloaded from the Polish Ministry of Agriculture website here.
