Mariann Fischer Boel has confirmed she will not be a candidate to continue as Europe’s top agriculture official when a new European Commission is formed.

She says this is so she can spend more time on her own farm and looking after her grandchildren. The author of reforms, which made the 66-year-old Dane unpopular with farmers all over Europe, noted she did not think the French, for instance, would be sad to see her go, saying they think she is too tough. Some dairy farmers angry over low milk prices are holding back production in protest in various EU countries. The European Union farm ministers are still at odds over what sort of help to give the milk sector. In November, the ministers agreed to lift milk production quotas by one percent per year before scrapping them by 2015. Boel has agreed to introduce limited aid but refuses to backtrack on scrapping quotas.More about: Agriculture

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