In today's Yorkshire Post, Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel writes an excellent piece on the reform of the CAP - not just what is to happen in the future, but what has already happened:

"It may have escaped people's notice, but despite Britain's clamour for reform at the EU summit in Brussels, the Common Agricultural Policy has just been radically reformed.

"At the start of this year, the way farmers are supported in the 25-nation EU changed dramatically. Unfortunately, attitudes towards the CAP have apparently failed to evolve at the same pace.

"The popular caricature remains of an outdated policy which rewards farmers for producing crops that no-one wants and which pays no heed to environmental concerns.
Nothing could be further from the truth."