Brussel gaat landbouwbestedingen drastisch omgooien (en)

The European Commission is set to push for a speedier shift from farming to rural development as part of its plans to overhaul the EU budget.

EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel i is due on 20 November to unveil plans for a major shake-up of the sector which still eats up about 40 percent of the European common budget.

The draft proposal suggests that from 2013 - the end of the current financial period - 13 percent of EU agriculture funds should be allocated for activities that maintain rural areas instead of as aid to farmers and production, according to Danish press agency Ritzau.

The current level is 5 percent and Brussels had originally envisaged increasing this figure to 10 percent by 2013.

Brussels' thinking on the issue comes just days after the commission kicked off a public debate on reforming the EU's budget.

The move is in reply to a 2005 request by EU leaders for a re-think on budget matters following bitter wrangling over the financial plans for 2007-2013.

The plan for agriculture reform also follows remarks by French president Nicolas Sarkozy suggesting his country is no longer an opponent but rather a supporter of the common agriculture policy (CAP) overhaul.

Paris has indicated it wants to make a major contribution to the overall reform.

But Brussels is determined to keep control of the issue. Commissioner Fischer Boel praised Paris' engagement as "positive".

But speaking on the margins of an informal meeting of agriculture ministers on Tuesday (18 September) in Porto, she said:

"I don't mind a copilot. [Mr Sarkozy] is welcome next to me, but I will keep hold of the steering wheel," Ritzau reported.