UK rebate linked to EU farms reform / Chirac links concessions on EU farm policy to UK rebate

Britain's efforts to secure reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) were dealt a blow on 22 October 2002 when France linked any concessions to a renegotiation of the United Kingdom's £2 billion a year rebate won by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984. The French President, Jacques Chirac, is convinced that he can only persuade the powerful French farming lobby to accept agricultural reform if Britain is also seen to make concessions. France remains the biggest beneficiary of the costly CAP.