Some people think that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the most successful policies in the EU, while others think that it is a failure full of scandals and waste.
In recent years, CAP has undergone a series of reforms, and this round of WTO negotiations is bound to have greater changes.
CAP is also one of the reasons why EU member states are arguing endlessly when formulating the EU budget for 2007-20 13. In the first half of 2005, Britain demanded that agricultural expenditure must be reduced before it promised to reduce the refund it received.
Source of bottle cap:
In the early days of the formation of the European Community, agricultural policy was one of the signs of cooperation among countries.
After World War II, in order to realize the reconstruction of Europe, Council of Europe began to try the political and economic integration of western European countries. The European Economic Community was established under the Treaty of Rome signed by France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Under the impetus of economic integration, the requirement of agricultural integration has been triggered. In the negotiation of establishing a common market, France demanded that an agricultural subsidy system must be established as a condition for free trade of industrial products. So CAP came into being at 1962. Its main objectives are:
Ensure the rational development of agricultural production by promoting technological progress, make full use of all production factors, especially labor force, and improve agricultural productivity;
On the basis of continuously improving agricultural labor productivity, increase the income of agricultural practitioners, so that agricultural practitioners can maintain a reasonable living standard;
Stabilize the agricultural product market and ensure the reliability of supply; Provide consumers with agricultural products at reasonable prices.
In order to ensure the realization of the objectives of the common agricultural policy, the European Community has formulated three principles that must be observed together to coordinate the interests of all countries:
The principle of market unification within the Community is to gradually abolish tariffs among EC member States, realize the free circulation of goods, labor and capital among EC member States, coordinate epidemic prevention and veterinary regulations among member States, and formulate common commercial regulations, prices and competition laws.
The priority principle of the Community is to implement the dual-track system of import tax and export subsidy. When the product price is lower than the internal price of the community, import tax is levied; When the export price of products is lower than the community price, price subsidies are implemented to control imports from outside the community and avoid being affected by fluctuations in the world market;
The principle of price and budget unification is to formulate a unified agricultural product price and financial budget, and each member country pays a certain fee to establish a European agricultural guidance fund and a security fund to subsidize and support the agricultural development of the Community.
This policy made Europe get rid of its dependence on imported food at that time, and made important contributions to economic growth and providing high-quality and cheap food. It eased the inflation at that time, expanded the export of agricultural products, was conducive to the balance of foreign trade, promoted the rapid development of agricultural production and increased farmers' income. However, the negative effect is that European agricultural products are overproduced soon, and the surplus products of food and beverage are piling up, which indirectly leads to a large increase in common financial expenditure.
Funds used by CAP
The cost of the common agricultural policy can be measured in two ways: the corresponding expenditure in the EU budget and the corresponding expenditure of consumers on higher food prices. In 2005, the EU spent 49 billion euros (46% of the total budget) on agricultural products. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that consumers spend an extra 55 billion euros on food. As the cooperation among EU member states has been expanding to other fields, the proportion of CAP budget in the total budget has been declining. In 2002, EU member states reached an agreement on controlling agricultural expenditure from 2006 to 20 13, although it is planned to accept 10 new member states in 2004. This means that farmers in the old EU member countries will receive less subsidies after 2007, and the subsidies will be reduced by 5% from 2007 to 20 13. If Romania and Bulgaria join the EU in 2007 or 2008, the subsidy will be further reduced by 8%-9%.
After a slight decline in 2004, the absolute amount of agricultural subsidies rebounded in 2005 due to the accession of 10 new member States.
CAP subsidy object
At present, France is the largest recipient of CAP funds, and in 2004, it accepted 22% of the total CAP subsidies. The share of Spain, Germany and Italy is about 12% to 15%.
Ireland and Greece received much more subsidies than their agricultural output, and Ireland's subsidies were twice as much as its agricultural output. The subsidy they receive accounts for 1.5% of national income, while the average level in EU countries is 0.5%.
Since 2004, new member countries have also begun to accept upper-limit subsidies, but the subsidy rate is one quarter of that of the old member countries. After that, the subsidy rate continued to rise until 20 13 reached the equal subsidy rate. By then, Poland, with 2.5 million farmers, may also become the main recipient of CAP fund.
CAP funds mainly flow to large agricultural producers-large agricultural enterprises and hereditary landlords. The survey found that 80% of CAP funds were occupied by 20% of EU farmers, while the other 40% of farmers only got 8% of funds.
CAP's capital use model
Before 1992, CAP fund was mainly used for price adjustment: to ensure that farmers' products would be bought at the lowest price-the more they produced, the more subsidies they received; The rest of the money is used for export subsidies-if the prices of agricultural products exported by farmers are lower than those sold in the EU, they will be compensated.
From 65438 to 0992, the European Union began to cancel the price adjustment system, reduce the minimum purchase price and implement direct subsidies. The link between subsidy amount and output is weakened. Farmers who grow food must reduce the land where they grow food.
From 65438 to 0995, in order to realize rural economic diversification and more competitive agriculture, the European Union began to implement rural development assistance.
Further reforms in 2003 and 2004 further broke the link between subsidies and output, and strengthened the link between subsidies and food safety, animal protection and the environment.
Sugar, wine, fruits and vegetables all need reform. The planned dairy reform will be implemented after 20 14.
At present, the cap fund of 13% will be increased to 25% by 20 10.
In the world trade negotiations, the EU expressed its willingness to work with other countries to reduce trade subsidies, and a larger tariff reduction is also under discussion.
Reform the common agricultural policy:
1992: implement direct subsidy to reduce cultivated land.
1995: rural development assistance fund was established.
In 2002, the subsidy amount was capped before 20 13.
In 2003, the link between subsidies and output changed into the link between subsidies and animal and environmental protection.
2005: Sugar industry reform is put on the agenda.
Products subsidized by CAP
The European Economic Community was a net importer of agriculture when formulating the common agricultural policy. The crops initially subsidized by CAP can reflect the ideas and trends of the six founding countries of the Community (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg). Cereals, beef/mutton and dairy products still account for the vast majority of CAP funds, and the expansion of/kloc-0 introduced new subsidized crops in the 1980s.
In 2003, cotton farmers received 870 million euros in subsidies, tobacco growers received 960 million euros and silkworm farmers received 400,000 euros.
In 2003, olive growers received a subsidy of 23 billion euros, while fruit and vegetable growers received 65.438+500 million euros and sugar producers received 65.438+300 million euros. The producer got1200 million euros.
Milk and sugar are limited by quotas and cannot be overproduced.
Wine is a special field: the EU invests every year to convert overproduced wine into brandy or industrial alcohol (to avoid price confusion and waste in the wine market)-this treatment method is called "crisis distillation"; In addition, there are funds to improve the quality of vines.
Proportion of CAP funds used
Food crops: 40%
Beef and mutton: 18%
Rural development assistance: 12%
Other cultivated products: 9. 1%
Olive oil: 5.4%
Dairy products: 4.6%
Vegetables and fruits: 3.6%
Sheep/goats: 3.4%
Sugar: 2.9%
Number of people benefiting from consolidated appeals process
Critics believe that CAP spending is huge, but there are few beneficiaries: agriculture accounts for only 1.6% of the EU GDP, and the population engaged in agricultural labor is only1000000, accounting for 5% of the EU population, and the agricultural budget has always been the largest item in the EU common financial budget.
Supporters of CAP believe that this policy guarantees the living conditions of rural areas where more than half of EU citizens live, and indirectly plays a role in maintaining the traditional features of rural areas. In addition, they believe that most developed countries provide financial support to farmers, and if there is no common policy, some countries may provide higher subsidies, which will bring pressure to re-establish trade barriers.
Agriculture plays different roles in the economies of EU member states. For example, agricultural producers account for 18% of Poland's total population, while this ratio is less than 2% in Britain and Belgium. Agriculture accounts for 5% of Greece's GDP, while Sweden's agriculture accounts for only 0.6%.
From 1980 to 2003, the agricultural population of the old member States of the European Union almost halved. Every year, 2% of the population in the whole EU withdraws from agricultural production. In 2002-2003, the agricultural production population in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the United Kingdom decreased by 8%.