Sir, - The imminent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy must result in real and substantial cuts in the price of food-related consumer goods across the shelves of supermarkets in Ireland. Under the EU Agenda 2000 programme the Common Agricultural Policy is set to be fundamentally reformed and agricultural prices in Europe are to be brought in line with world prices.
The European Commission intends to introduce a 30 per cent reduction in EU support prices for beef, a 15 per cent reduction in support prices for milk and a 20 per cent reduction in support prices for cereals. I will be pressing the Commission to clearly show to Irish consumers how these price reductions will result in lower consumer prices.
The European Union must put in place monitoring and control mechanisms to ensure that Irish consumers pay less for their food products in shops and supermarkets. CAP reform is not worth undergoing if consumers do not benefit substantially with reduced weekly shopping bills. Last year, when the price of beef and lamb collapsed, Irish consumers did not gain.
As the reform of CAP is put in train, consumer organisations must be highly vigilant to ensure that the consumer gets a firm beneficial deal from this process. Or will the middle-man win again? - Yours, etc., Niall Andrews, MEP,
European Parliament Office, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.