EU farm subsidies face sweeping review

BRUSSELS (AFP) — The European Union launches this week a root-and-branch review of its Common Agriculture Policy amid growing pressure to ease production limits in the face of a global commodities boom.

On Tuesday the European Commission kicks off a "health-check" of Europe's generous farm support system, which was foreseen under a sweeping shake-up of the CAP in 2003.

After a consultation period, the EU's executive arm aims to come up with reform proposals in the first half of 2008 to be decided on during the second half of the year when France, Europe's biggest farm power, hold the bloc's presidency.

During the last deep reform of the PAC in 2003, the link between the amount of aid farmers received and the amount they produced was broken, or decoupled in EU jargon.