Alistair Darling will fire the opening salvo on Monday in what threatens to become a key battle with France and Germany over the future of Europe's Common Agricultural Policy which, he claims, is exacerbating the world food crisis.

The chancellor will urge fellow European Union finance ministers to support the dismantling of the CAP, saying it is costing EU consumers billions of pounds a year in higher food bills, while hurting farmers in the developing world.