(BERLIN) - Germany on Wednesday threw its support behind a French drive to protect EU farm hand-outs from calls led by Britain for cutting the bloc's generous agriculture subsidies.

German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer said he "completely agreed" with France's position that rocketing food prices justified maintaining Europe's farm subsidy system, known as the common agricultural policy (CAP).

"I don't see how we could now decide to do away with European farm support which is compensation for the many environmental and animal protection norms that they must respect," Seehofer said.

Last week France, the biggest recipient of EU farm handouts, defended the EU's farm subsidy system, with Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier arguing that the bloc had to remain "a strong agricultural power."

The German minister denied that the CAP was to blame for soaring global food prices, which have triggered protests in many countries and even violent outbreaks in Haiti.

"We are responsible for the planet's well-being," he said. "But we are not the cause of the problem."

"We don't help the weak by weakening the strong," he added, arguing for "structural" support for the agriculture sector in developing countries.

France, Europe's biggest farming power, has led a battle in recent years against growing calls by Britain to reduce EU farm spending in order to direct more funds towards such things as research and education.

Despite reforms, farm hand-outs remain the single biggest spending item in the combined EU budget, swallowing up about 40 percent of the whole.

"We agree with France that no agreement (at the WTO) is better than a bad agreement," said German state secretary for agriculture Gert Lindemann.

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