14,500 farms would be hit by capping

Some 14 500 farmers or businesses in the EU could see their direct payment cut in two years’ time, new figures indicate.

Any farmer receiving a net entitlement of more than €150 000 in aid payments is likely to see their payment reduced under the Commission’s controversial proposals on aid ‘capping’. New figures from the EU, relating to 2010, reveal for the first time the extent to which farmers throughout Europe would be affected.

The figure also show that those 14 500 businesses received almost 11 per cent (€4.4 billion) of the total €39.7bn handed out to 7.79 million recipients. Around 4 000 farms got more than €300 000 each, netting more than €2.2bn between them.