situation gives rise to scenarios that, if confirmed,
will significantly decrease the incomes of Greek
―and other European― farmers.
We cannot rule out the possibility of a 30% reduc-
tion in the assistance currently provided to farmers,
leading to cutbacks of almost €700 million.
Financial Programming and Budget Commissioner,
Janusz Lewandowski, has announced that EU farm
subsidies and, in general, CAP funds, should be
reduced to one third, from 40% today, of the EU
budget’s total expenditure, which currently stands
at approximately €130 billion.
The total amount allocated to agriculture and agri-
cultural development in 2010 stood, according to
data included in the draft community budget for
2011, at €57.8 billion, accounting for almost 42%
of total expenditure. A reduction to 1/3 ―given
current data, which change in accordance to
changes in the member-states’ GDP― translates
into a decrease of more than €12 billion in the
amount currently spent for supporting European
agriculture.
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In this context, the government made, for the first time,
officially clear that it plans to “clear up” the Agricultural
Cooperatives sector.
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