The launching of the Cairns dispose position on the import access issue in the Doha spherical of agricultural trade liberalisation negotiations (see AE2020.

The launching of the Cairns dispose position on the import access issue in the Doha spherical of agricultural trade liberalisation negotiations (see AE2020, 13902 EP/6) points up the major fundamental weakness of the circulating European Union approach to agricultural policy reform.

While the EU can manipulate its domestic support arrangements to conform to WTO criteria forward both domestic support and export subsidisation without any serious threat to the flat of farm incomes, the same cannot be said for any relaxation of the not away level of import barriers. Imports cannot increase without dilution of the EU internal market