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EU agriculture ministers will reconvene again in June to continue negotiations after they failed to reach an agreement with MEPs on the Common Agricultural Reform (CAP) overnight, several people involved in the talks said on Friday.
“EU agriculture ministers and the European Parliament have not yet found a solution #CAP reform,” the Finnish agriculture ministry tweeted. “Negotiations will continue in June.” A person from the European Parliament camp confirmed: “It is over. We continue in June.”
Farm ministers are set to reconvene for an informal meeting in Lisbon in mid-June and will attempt to conclude the negotiations in a new AGRIFISH Council in Luxembourg by the end of the month, the ministry added in an online statement.
“Issues remain open and I think, from the Council side, the member states also need some clarity on what are the solutions that are to be accepted and what are the consequences. Therefore some more time is needed,” said an EU diplomat close to the negotiations.
The news comes after CAP discussions with MEPs collapsed on Thursday night, with lawmakers rejecting a Portuguese-brokered, last-minute proposal from EU countries on key issues on how to green the EU’s farm policy.
Several agriculture ministers had left Brussels by Friday morning, another EU diplomat confirmed.
“We were very close to reach an agreement this week,” EU Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski tweeted Friday morning, adding that the Commission was ready to ensure a deal was clinched before the Portuguese Council Presidency expired in June.
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