BRUSSELS, July 4: The European Union welcomed on Monday the “apparent willingness” of US President George W. Bush to overhaul farm subsidies in his country if the EU does the same. “I am very encouraged to see an apparent willingness by the US to look seriously at farm reform and put the US Farm Bill on the table,” said EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.

“We in Europe have just put in place the biggest ever reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. We are prepared to bind that reform contractually into a deal in the World Trade Organisation, but our partners must match our ambition,” she said in a statement.

When asked in an interview by Britain’s ITV television whether the United States would drop its subsidy system, Bush replied: “Absolutely. And I think we have an obligation to work together to do that.”

“We’ve got agricultural subsidies, not nearly to the extent that our friends in the EU have,” he noted.—AFP