The German EU presidency is expected to put a compromise package of reforms for the farming sector on the table for EU ministers this morning, following two days of bilateral meetings with national delegations.
Last night there were faint hopes that a private dinner for the ministers might help to break the logjam in the talks. But diplomats expressed concern that the prospects for agreement this week on the Agenda 2000 farm budget seem increasingly bleak because the Germans appear unwilling to depart significantly from Commission proposals to meet member-state concerns.
Today's paper will officially include for the first time French "degressivity" proposals for progressive cuts in direct-aid compensation for farmers.
If agreement appears possible, the ministers are likely to end up in an all-night session in order to contribute to the heads of government informal summit on Agenda 2000 in Bonn tomorrow. A final deal is supposed to be wrapped up by the Berlin summit at the end of next month.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, had bilateral talks yesterday with the British, Spanish and Portuguese, and spent an hour attending a specially-convened meeting of the national council of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association.
Mr Walsh reported on the negotiations and stressed his concerns for the plight of small farmers and the family farm. Any agreement, he said, would have to be balanced to take account of the unique Irish dependence on agriculture.
The meeting was attended by two Irish MEPs, Mr Alan Gillis (FG, Leinster) and Mr John Cushnahan (FG, Munster).
