Swedes slam 'outdated' farming subsidies
Published: 9 Feb 13 16:42 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/46102/20130209/
Agricultural subsidies are set to fall under the new EU budget deal, but Swedish critics are mostly concerned about how the money will be spent.
- Reinfeldt hails EU budget deal as 'good for Sweden' (8 Feb 13)
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France and other major farming nations thwarted attempts by Britain and its northern European allies to shift a greater share of EU spending towards new measures to boost growth and jobs, reported Reuters.
As a result, farm subsidies will consume some 38 percent of the EU budget for 2014 to 2020, equivalent to 3.1 trillion kronor ($486 billion) of the 8.3 trillion kronor total, or around 430 billion kronor a year.
Many Swedish politicians and lobbyists worried that the subsidies would be slimmed-down even more.
"I was afraid that it would be even worse, but it is still not good," Ulf Holk, a Green Party MP, told the TT news agency.
He is particularly disappointed that the direct subsidies, which he labelled "outdated", will not be reduced and that the EU's Rural Development Programme will not get the support it needs.
Swedes have criticised the direct support initiatives that are based on how many hectares an agricultural property spans and are aimed at strengthening European agriculture against international competition.
The Rural Development Programme focuses on boosting employment and on developing the environment and rural areas in their entirety.
The Social Democrats' economic spokeswoman, Magdalena Andersson, was not happy about the outcomes of the budget negotiations, either.
"I would rather have seen that the money that goes straight to passive agricultural assistance was radically reduced, but there are other countries that feel strongly about going in a different direction," said Andersson.
Whether or not domestic funds will make up for the money lost as a result of the EU cuts is far from clear at this point.
Thomas Bertilsson of the Federation of Swedish Farmers (Lantbrukarnas Riksförbund) hopes that the government will cover the difference.
"Ultimately, it is a pretty substantial reduction. It affects both the countryside and the environment," said Bertilsson.
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Now I inform you about English corruption : Libor scandal , from Barclays, Royal Bank o Scotland, bonus, golden parachute, paid by English tax payers.
The city of London a fiscal paradise according to the magazine Forbes, how strange.
Stupid people like me believe that the Isle of Man, Guernesey, Jersey, are places for money laundering.
A friend of mine back from England told me that English people are real gentlemen by education, but by education only, they are hooligans otherwise.
I didn't believe him of course.
Go to farmsubsidy dot org, then search for france. 9.9 Billion Euro went to France, annual average of 18,000 euros for every single farmer.
What the clean bankers are doing in their paradise can't be read by anybody : IT IS totally secret.
I know what is the job of a farmer : to provide foods for people.
I know what is the job of bankers : to prepare catastrophe.
Setting aside banking scandals, which are not the subject of this forum, please would you justify why rich French farmers, year on year, receive nearly 38 percent of the entire EU budget (430 billion sek per year).
If you are unable to do so, shame on you and all your countrymen for turning a fine idea (the EU) into a tool of French corruption and waste, and ruining it for everyone else.
It's no wonder the EU is a mess and the idea of a free and open market economy is a joke. How can any country compete on price and production, when the manufacturer in one countries is massively subsidised.
ps. what the bank get is irrelevant. French farmers are being paid by tax payers in every other EU nation. Even Italy get's much less than the French and everyone thinks they corrupt.
Jeane, you need to read the facts.
European budget is decided in Brussels by representatives of every countries. It is transparent. We can talk about, like here.
France which was at the origin of the common market, with Germany, had an important agriculture sector at the time.
There are people defending companies interests in Brussels, apparently for the French farmers it is a kind of mafia, for financial activities it would be called : a lobby.
A lobby can represent totally secret activities, you cannot have an opinion on them because they don't practice transparency.
When the banking system makes profit it's for them, when they do huge losses, it is for the tax payers : too big to fail.
Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fanny Mae, Freddie Mac, received a credit rating AAA few days before bankrupt : that was real corruption.
The farmers responsible of the failure of Europe, you're looking for a scapegoat, to cover financial disastrous activities.
No, I'm sorry, that just won't do. You are unable to offer an adequate explanation why a few thousand very rich people are entitled to receive 38 percent of the entire EU budget.
You and your country are corrupt.