Cutting Europe's farm subsidies

With special reference to Austrian farmers, Michael Moravec asserts that farm subsidies should not be entirely abolished. "Despite the positive income developments, many farms in Austria are still facing the question of whether to continue or close down. And if they do close down the tasks that cultivation of the land involves will be neglected. For Austria, a popular tourist destination, it's crucial that meadows and Alpine pastures are not left to run wild, that forest paths are tended to and village structures are not allowed to further deteriorate. The 'modernisation' of the EU's agricultural policy is entirely justified: we must get away from funding production only to have the products destroyed, away from the lakes of wine and mountains of butter, and move instead towards bonuses for the preservation of areas under cultivation - and stronger support for farmers in a difficult environment. There should be managed farms in the mountains, even if such measures are expensive."

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