The EU is renewing efforts to reform its Common Agricultural Policy, the rural payments system that costs more than 40bn euros (£32bn) a year.

It is due to announce proposals aimed at making farming more efficient and environmentally friendly.

The European Commission will suggest going further down a road it embarked on five years ago.

It aims to scrap milk quotas and give farmers incentives to look after the countryside rather than producing food.

BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell says the idea is to make farmers more responsive to the demands of the market - and more at its mercy.

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