UK urges EU collaboration on food

The European Union should take coordinated action to try to tame rising food and energy prices, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday.

He also said after talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso the increase in global fuel and food costs presented Europe with long-term difficulties and the EU should lead a global dialogue with oil producers.

"It is essential that we take further action together to reduce the pressure of high oil prices and high food prices for families here in Britain and right across the European Union," Brown told reporters.

"Europe needs to do more to balance energy supply and energy demand, not just now but in the medium term and in the long term. We need to make a reality of our commitment to improve energy efficiency and to reduce our dependence on oil."

Brown said he would use a meeting with EU leaders this month to out forward the proposals, including the possibility of holding talks with oil producers. He and Barroso agreed rising food prices should be a priority for the meeting.

Brown called for fair competition between producers and a reform of food aid, including the Common Agricultural Policy through which European governments subsidise farmers.

More investment was needed in agricultural research, as well as urgent action on a world trade deal, he said.

Barroso said the EU executive was prepared to look at reforming the CAP during its next financial period.