MEP Addresses Latvian Farmers about the Ups and Downs of EU Membership

12.00.00am GMT Fri 16th Mar 2001

Diana Wallis today visited Bishop Burton College, where she was previously a governor, to meet with a group of visiting 18 Latvian farmers and others with an interest in the agricultural sector.

Diana Wallis MEP spoke about the Latvian application for EU membership and the implications of enlargement for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Latvia is due to become a member of the EU around 2004.

"It was good to hear that politically the group were unanimously supportive of EU membership," said Diana Wallis MEP after the meeting, "although they are deeply concerned about the implications for their farming industry which is gradually recovering after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Latvians currently have access to locally produced products and are worried about an influx of cheap goods from the EU."

Latvia is currently receiving, along with other EU applicant states, financial and technical assistance from Europe to help it prepare for membership.

Concerns were raised about European funding and how the institutions of the EU operate. Diana Wallis said: "This highlighted the fact that at present, Latvian citizens do not have MEPs to represent their views and take up their concerns with the European Commission and the Council, unlike our own farmers who have had democratic representation at the European level for decades."