FARM COUNCIL: STRONG OPPOSITION TO SUGAR REFORM PLANS AS BEET FARMERS STAGE HUGE PROTEST.

Member states: blocking minority.

As expected, the ministers' first formal debate on the new proposal revealed a clear blocking minority. Italy and Poland, in particular, hardened their line and confirmed that they are in the group of member states strongly opposed to the reform - alongside Spain, Greece, Portugal, Finland and Ireland. A key argument of opponents of the reform is that A and B quotas should not be merged; countries like Poland and Spain say the member states that produce "C" sugar for export - that is, the big producers - should pay for the reform inste