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Europe refuses to limit subsidies to big farms

17 March 2011, 22:35 CET
Europe refuses to limit subsidies to big farms

Photo © Valcho - Fotolia

(BRUSSELS) - EU agriculture ministers on Thursday rejected capping subsidies to Europe's biggest farms but compromised on a fairer share-out of funds between farmers in eastern and western Europe.

Meeting to discuss an overhaul of Europe's generously subsidised farms programme, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), 19 of the 27 ministers present agreed to the general outlines of a plan to revamp the scheme, several ministers said.

With debate continuing on how to reform the CAP "we have a good basis to look at a legislative package", said Europe's agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos.

Yet his proposal to set a ceiling on aid for Europe's largest farms was rejected, with a summary "taking note of significant opposition by states" to cap "direct payments to large individual farms".

Ciolos had told AFP in an interview previously that "it is difficult to explain to outsiders that a few farmers are paid hundreds of thousands, or even millions of euros."

He reiterated on Thursday that he believed the proposal would have been viewed positively by European taxpayers.

Hungarian Agriculture Minister Sandor Fazekas, whose country currently holds the rotating European Union presidency, said 90 percent of the CAP reform proposals had been agreed by ministers present.

The summary stated that "the future CAP must remain a srong common policy as far as the EU budget is concerned, that it must be given financial ressources proportional to its aims."

Some EU member states, notably Britain, regularly urge substantial cuts in the CAP budget, which currently accounts for 40 percent of the total EU budget, or almost 60 billion euros (82 billion dollars).

The toughest talks Thursday however touched on how to find a new balance between subsidies to older EU states and newer eastern members who joined after 2004.

The summary said "the need for a fairer distribution of direct subsisides was recognised by reducing stage by stage the link to historical references."

It was the first time that Germany, which would be the big loser in a subsidy redistribution, had agreed to discuss historical references.

Poland, which absorbed 2.03 billion euros in CAP subsidies in 2009, for its part agreed to drop demnads for a fixed rate of subsidies instead.

French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire said negotiations on a new share-out would likely be "very tough".

AGRICULTURE and FISHERIES Council meeting (provisional version) - Brussels, 17 March 2011


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