Cutting Europe's farm subsidies

Werner Balsen praises the draft proposals put forward by the EU Agriculture Commissioner, saying the timing "could hardly have been better". "Many farmers from Lapland to Andalusia are now better off than ever thanks to the rise in milk and grain prices. Therefore it's a good time to open a debate about the EU's instruments for pampering farmers. North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg have just revealed who receives what of the funding from Brussels - and often enough it's the larger farms and foodstuff companies. ... Fischer Boel's proposals are forward-looking because they would cut subsidies for large agricultural operations and use the money to back a more environmentally friendly type of agriculture that can meet the challenges of climate protection and the protection of endangered species. ... Berlin's almost knee-jerk reaction is therefore unjustified - even if the underdeveloped region of eastern Germany would be hard hit by the changes in Brussels."

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