By Nia Thomas BBC Wales Rural Affairs Correspondent

Older farming traditions continue in much of eastern Europe

With almost half the EU's �30bn (44.5bn euro) budget spent on agricultural subsidies in one form or another, Welsh farmers are highly dependent on support from Brussels.

The enlargement of the EU on May 1 to 25 countries means the future of the agriculture budget is sure to be one of the main topics in the run-up to polling in Britain on 10 June.

"We are looking to future MEPs to influence the outcome of future debates in Brussels on behalf of our members," said National Farmers' Union Cymru president Peredur Hughes.

There's no excuse for further destabilising tinkering Arwyn Owen, FUW

"We feel the European Parliament should ensure that the changing role of agriculture post Common agriculture policy reform, is taken fully into account in budgetary developments," added Mr Hughes, an Anglesey farmer.

Last July the European agriculture ministers decided to revamp the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) so that payments will be based on the area farmed, rather than the number of animals or amount of crops produced.

For the first time the link between production and subsidies will come to an end.

The new Europe The EU is now the world's biggest trading bloc The 10 new countries have 74m citizens The EU now has a 455m population The combined GDP of the 10 new nations is under 5% of the other 15

The Farmers' Union of Wales says stability must be the key word for the next few years.

"We are now facing major changes in the farming industry and it's important the new regime is given time to settle," said FUW director of policy Arwyn Owen.

"There are already rumours that this reform won't last even ten years. Another worry is that with the expansion of the EU there will be financial pressures for more changes.

"It's important the MEPs realise how important the next few years are."

Teething problems

Critics say subsidies lead to mountains of unneeded food

EU enlargement has increased the number of farmers from seven million to 11m.

But the nature of agriculture in the eastern bloc countries is quite different from the former EU states.

In the new member states farming is far more important economically, providing on average five times as many jobs as it does in the original 15 nations. It makes up about four per cent GDP - again about double that in the former 15 member states.

Poland, for example, has about 2.5m farmers - but most work on farms of fewer than 20 acres.

It is difficult to assess the real impact of the accession countries on farming in Wales. But some commentators believe it will take them a few years to find their feet in the new Europe.

Already some food processors are experiencing teething problems with the EU health and hygiene standards.

Before enlargement, Hungarian farmers protested at falling state subsidies

More than 1,000 companies - including abattoirs and dairies - have been given between three months and three years to complete upgrading work. They will not be allowed to export any goods until they come into line with the required standards.

Fair enforcement of EU laws across all member states is one of the demands made in a document produced by four of the main farming unions in the UK, which includes NFU Cymru.

They want to see accession countries reaching the "same high standards" as existing members.

With the World Trade Organisation talks on the horizon there's also pressure on Europe to stand its ground.

"It's imperative that we make clear in the WTO talks that we've already introduced big changes to the farming subsidies. There's no excuse for further destabilising tinkering," said Arwyn Owen of the FUW.

To many people - rightly or wrongly - Europe still conjures up pictures of milk and butter mountains. To others it's a never-ending river of rules and regulations.

They will all be put in the political and agricultural melting pot in the next few weeks.