The CAP still took 46.7 per cent of overall allocated EU expenditure in 2006, compared to 46.2 per cent in 2005, according to figures released by the European Commission. However, this represents a decrease on the 49 per cent figure in 2003. It also accounted for 0.44 per cent of GNI.
The ten accession states received 9 per cent of overall CAP funding including 27.4 per cent of the Rural Development Budget. France remains the individual member state with the largest share of spending but this was down from 20.7 per cent in 2005 and 21.6 per cent in 2004.
68.4 per cent of the money was spent on direct aids, roughly half of which went on the SPS in the EU-15. Spending on export refunds and intervention dropped to just 5 per cent and 1.5 per cent of the CAP budget respectively.
Five member states (Austria, France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain) are net beneficiaries of the CAP budget, as are virtually all new member states (Malta got only €9.4m in agricultural spending). Their share of spending will increase in the coming years with the phasing in of the SFP.
More details at: Finances
4 comments:
The Commission appears to have discontinued its more detailed report on the allocation of EU expenditure by member state, which was published last time in September 2006, in respect of the 2005 budget.
This document gave line-by-line breakdowns of types of expenditure (e.g. direct payments, export subsidies etc). This detail is absent from the new report. More worryingly, the old report has been removed from the Commission's webpage. I have a copy stored locally and have asked the Commission official responsible if he will supply the more detailed figures for 2006.
The Commission claims to be committed to a transparent budget. That is hard to believe when it discontinues and deletes the most detailed report on the EU budget that there is. Incidentally, I have been told by several MEPs on the European Parliament budget committee that they had to fight for years to get this information and the Commission never wanted to release it. Hopefully some more vigilant MEPs will be alert to the backsliding.
We need a Europe wide debate on how to dismantle the CAP, that involves ALL the EU citizens, tax payers, not just the overly influential farming lobby group, a lack of knowledge and spin, ie. "food security" aka protectionism, is keeping this unfairness going
The CAP is fantastic for farmers / landowners, it is very bad for consumers, restritions on production and barriers to food imports keeps food prices higher than they should be and only acts to further enhance the wealth of the farmers / landowners, it has to do with money,
New Zealand is an excellent example, no subsidies, grants, protectionism, their farmers do not receive money to keep their farms clean etc.
a must read,
WHO OWNS THE WORLD
The hidden facts behind landownership
by
Kevin Cahill
exellent on the CAP
a must read for ALL European tax payers, and belivers in fairness, transparency and democracy
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