CONTROL of direct payments and rural development during the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) process in Europe has been handed over to a Portuguese MEP.

Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos was named the rapporteur, and so will be in charge of these parts of the CAP, after a meeting of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee.

Maeve Whyte, director of the NFU office in Brussels, said: “Mr Capoulas Santos is a politician of great experience both in Portuguese politics and here in Brussels. As a former agriculture minister he understands the issues facing EU farmers and we hope that we can work with him to shape a strong and sustainable future for European agriculture.”

Mr Capoulas Santos, who represents the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, will take direct control of the two issues when they are formally put before the agriculture committee tomorrow.

French MEP Michel Dantin and Italian MEP Giovanni La Via will be the rapporteurs on the remaining two papers which complete the Commission’s package for reform and cover CAP financing and single market controls. The agriculture committee chairman, Italian MEP Paolo De Castro, will oversee the whole reform package.

Ms Whyte said: “We already have an excellent working relationship with the MEPs on the Agriculture Committee and we will continue to make sure that our members’ concerns are heard at the top table of decision making. Our overarching message is to create a simple policy that drives productive, competitive and sustainable agriculture.”