Eleven states, including the Republic, yesterday outlined their common objections to the European Commission's proposed reform of the sugar market.
The states, which form a blocking minority within the council, urged the commission to draw up a more balanced strategy for reform based on lower price cuts, higher direct aids for farmers and extra compensation for the member states most affected.
A letter signed by the agriculture ministers from all 11 dissenting member states and addressed to agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel says it would be "unacceptable to dismantle production in certain regions and at the same time increase it in others".
It outlines nine problems with the current sugar reform proposal and asks for a range of amendments, principally based on lower and more gradual price cuts.
The commission proposal is for an initial 39 per cent cut in the price of white sugar and compensation for farmers for 60 per cent of the price cut through a decoupled payment, which is linked to environmental and land management standards.
Farmers in the 11 states objecting to the commission proposal believe that the sugar reforms in their present form would eradicate the industry in their regions while boosting production in other areas that benefit from big farms and a better climate.
Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan said last night she was prepared to block the proposed reforms unless they were amended. She also said that negotiations on sugar reforms should continue beyond next month if required to gain a consensus.
"There are up to 5,000 jobs at risk in Ireland from the reforms," said Mr John Dillon, president of the Irish Farmers Association, who was in Luxembourg with several beet farmers to lobby the council.
"This is an unprecedented strategy from Brussels where the pain will not be shared equally among member states."
However, the commission and the British presidency of the European Union (EU) wants to agree a reform of the sugar market at an EU council of ministers meeting next month before the December World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Hong Kong.
A failure to reach agreement on sugar reform would represent a major setback for the commission, which is already embroiled in difficult talks with its trading partners on other agricultural sectors in the Doha round of trade talks.
At the agricultural ministerial meeting yesterday, France again attempted to get EU member states to agree a draft declaration to prevent the commission from offering any further concessions in the WTO talks to the US and developing countries on agricultural market access. The declaration was not agreed by the council after the talks.
Meanwhile, Ms Coughlan will meet the EU's WTO negotiator Pascal Lamy in Geneva today to express concerns about potential WTO cuts in agriculture.
