The Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development for the European Economic Union is Mariann Fischer Boel. She was the keynote speaker on the program today here at the World Agricultural Forum.

You can listen to her speech here while she’s finishing up with questions and answers. In her talk she tries to clear up misconceptions about farmers, farming and the policies of the EU. In particular she provides some historic detail on the EU CAP (Common Ag Policy). She says they’re continuing the move to reduce subsidies. One of the key words heard here is sustainability and she does make a point about the care the EU needs to use in moving forward so that their farmers sustain their prosperity.

You can listen to the speech here: world-ag-forum-07-boel.mp3