The introduction of the euro rendered prices transparent across borders
and revealed to the European consumer how expensive his food is. Scares
like the mishandled mad cow disease dented consumer confidence in both
politicians and bureaucrats. But, most crucially, the integration of
the countries of east and central Europe with their massive
agricultural sectors makes the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
untenable.
The CAP guzzles close to half of the EU's $98 billion budget. Recent,
controversial reforms, introduced by the European Commission, call for
a gradual reduction and diversion of CAP outlays from directly
subsidizing production to WTO-compatible investments in agricultural
employment, regional development, environment and training and
research. Unnoticed, support to farmers by both the EU and member
governments has already declined from $120 billion in 1999 to $110
billion in 2000. This decrease has since continued unabated.
Still, the EU is unable to provide the candidate countries with the
same level of farm subsidies it doles out to the current 15 members.
Close to one quarter of Poland's population is directly or indirectly
involved in agriculture - ten times the European average. The agreement
struck between Germany and France in September and adopted in a summit
Brussels in October freezes CAP spending in its 2006 level until 2013.
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