Romania disagrees with cutting the EU budget for the Common Agriculture Policy

Romania believes the European Union should keep the same Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) budget after 2013 and revise the way European funds are granted, Agriculture Minister Dacian Ciolos said.

Some member states are for reducing the European Union's budget for CAP while others stand for keeping it at the same level. Romania plays in the latter league.

Financing for agriculture should not be cut because more than 40 percent of the population lives in the countryside and there is a great number of people who work in agriculture, Ciolos said.

In Romania, the budget allotted for supporting farmers and rural development should remain as it is, according to Ciolos. However, the fund allotment system should be tackled, the minister deems. Moreover, the CAP budget should be established after completing the CAP reformation, Ciolos added.

Romania has great agriculture potential which could consolidate the bloc's position on the European market, Ciolos said.

The CAP reformation was the subject of a harsh dispute between France and the UK in 2005. It split EU into the countries with powerful agriculture segments and those whose agriculture was less important for the economy.

The CAP entered into force in 1962 when the founding members of the EC had just emerged from over a decade of severe food shortages during and after the Second World War.

The CAP reformation in 2003 changed the fund allotment system by perking up rural development. This is a good opportunity for the Romanian rural areas considering that most of them lack minimum infrastructure. Romania's agriculture was hit by serious drought last summer, provoking significant damages to crops.

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