G. whereas as a result of the last EU enlargements (2004 and 2007), an additional 7 million farmers were added to the total agricultural labour force and the area of agricultural land increased by 40%; whereas real agricultural per capita income has fallen by 12.2% in the EU-27 for the past 10 years, gradually falling back to 1995 levels, whereas the average agricultural income in the EU-27 is less than 50% of the average income in the rest of the economy, while production costs for commodities such as fertilisers, electricity and fuel are at their highest level in the last 15 years, making the continuation of agricultural production i ...[+++]n the EU very difficult,

I think that Greece, a country whose economy has recovered thanks to a programme of reform carried out on its own initiative, and a country which has achieved rates of growth putting it at the forefront of the European Union and has used this process to bring about a positive revolution in the agricultural sector, and a country which now has a first-world rather than a third-world economy, thanks also, of course, to the common agricultural policy, is now well prepared to breathe new life into the Lisbon process, which it badly needs i ...[+++]f it is to survive.

We highlighted in the budget what the principal issues were but we wanted to leave a window for consultation with farm leaders and farm organizations to make sure we had the benefit of their best advice in program design.

In developing the changes, many of which are technical and sector specific, this government went straight to many of the groups, organizations, sector leaders and professional associations affected by the tax.

We were just at a meeting last week in San Diego between North American and European Union farm leaders.

It seems the difference is too large for the comfort of the farm leaders.