THE UK is backing the entry of further European nations into the EU, said DEFRA Secretary of State Margaret Beckett.
She has met with her counterparts from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Poland.
"I told them that the UK is strongly supportive of their entry into the European Union and the benefits which will flow to both sides economically and politically." She also spoke to them of the need for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
"In particular, the UK would like to see the existing direct payments, introduced to compensate farmers for price cuts, being replaced by other support for rural areas - for example, for environmental protection and enhancement and for wider rural development.
"I understand that there will be anxieties in the candidate countries about what this might mean for them. However, the UK believes that such changes - made on a transitional basis - would also have important advantages for them."
Updated: 09:35 Thursday, January 17, 2002
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