AGRICULTURE : CAP 'HEALTH CHECK' TO DOMINATE AGENDA.

The Slovenian EU Presidency inherits the thorny dossier on the 'health check' of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It is under pressure to achieve a result because the French EU Presidency which follows intends to move onto another phase: the launch of discussions for post-2013. And Paris wants to cut to the core of the legislative proposals resulting from the health check, whose presentation is planned for May 2008.

For Ljubljana, the stakes are high - all the more so since agriculture ministers have set a tight schedule with the aim of adopting the...