European Union foreign ministers failed today to reach agreement over whether to grant direct payments to farmers in eastern European countries queuing up to join the bloc in 2004.
Germany led opposition to granting direct payments, at least for the time being, and the Dutch said a decision might not be possible until as late as a Copenhagen summit in December.
"The Dutch say they want to know how many countries will join the EU in the next wave before making any commitments on direct payments," one EU diplomat told reporters after the 15 ministers discussed the problem in Luxembourg.
"This may not happen until December," the diplomat added. This would represent a big delay in the EU's enlargement timetable, which envisages closing accession negotiations with up to 10, mostly eastern European applicants, by December.
Germany, the Netherlands, Britain and Sweden are pressing for radical reform of the EU's costly Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).