Nearly half of the budget is used for agricultural subsidies.
It is not easy to find out how much subsidies European farmers get from the government. On the one hand, the agricultural system in the EU is quite different from that in China. EU countries implement the "* * * agricultural policy", mainly subsidizing farmers through "price support". However, this price system is extremely complicated, and the price level of each product is different every year, so the subsidy level is also different. Specifically, the crops whose prices are directly determined by the EU are classified into 13 categories, such as grain, rice, vegetables, fruits, sugar, wine, tobacco, milk, meat, eggs, vegetable oil, animal fat and oil, which account for about 96% of the agricultural products produced by the EU. The corresponding "intervention price" and "target price" are determined by the EU Agricultural Directorate General every year according to the production and sales situation of the year, and announced after approval by the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers.
On the other hand, EU subsidies to farmers are various in forms and names, especially there are many non-cash subsidies. Take the EU Agricultural Fund as an example. This part of the expenditure is mainly used for the "guarantee part" of intervention and purchase of agricultural products, and also includes the so-called "guidance part", which is mainly used to improve production facilities (such as land improvement projects, water conservancy irrigation projects, afforestation projects, etc.). ), improve agricultural products sales engineering facilities (such as building granaries, farmers' markets, etc.). ), reform the production structure and train agricultural technicians.
It is difficult to calculate the subsidy level of individual farmers, so it is better to look at the total amount. At present, agriculture only accounts for 1.8% of EU GDP, and agricultural labor force only accounts for 3% of the total labor force. However, the proportion of agricultural funds in the EU budget is stable at nearly half level, exceeding 40 billion euros every year.
Countries have also formulated their own support measures according to their own conditions.
Although EU countries have transferred the right to make agricultural policies to the same level, they still think that the EU is not considerate enough to their own farmers, so they have formulated their own unique agricultural support measures according to their own conditions.
Take taxation as an example. All EU countries have no agricultural tax. Farmers, like other members of society, pay personal income tax, enterprise income tax and property tax according to the nature of their economic activities. Agricultural products are subject to value-added tax as industrial products. However, unlike the general industrial value-added tax of less than 20%, countries adopt special preferential policies for agricultural products, or completely exempt some agricultural products, or implement special tax rates, which greatly reduces the actual tax rate of agricultural products, such as France's average 7%, Germany's 6.5%, Italy's 2%, Luxembourg's 5%, the Netherlands' 4%, Austria and Belgium's 6%.
In addition to tax policies, countries also have their own agricultural support measures. France is a big agricultural country in the European Union, and its financial discount policy is very distinctive. Financial discount is closely combined with agricultural credit. Starting from 1990, the French government organizes banks to bid for the interest rate of discounted loans every year. Whoever has the lowest interest rate is eligible to issue discount loans. Loan interest subsidies are mainly used to support young people to enter agriculture, farm modernization, agricultural machinery use cooperatives and so on. The loan term is as long as 15- 18.
The Dutch government guides and stimulates agricultural investment through "joint investment between government and farmers". Farmers who want to get government policy investment can make investment plans and apply to the government, including agriculture, agricultural product processing industry and animal husbandry. After approval by the government, it can be jointly invested with farmers. The proportion of government investment generally accounts for about 40% of the total investment.
In addition, since the EU's agricultural policy mainly involves market policy, the development of rural areas still belongs to the responsibility of governments. When formulating development policies for rural areas, the state generally pays attention to the investment in land consolidation, soil and water conservation and environmental protection, which has played a positive role in narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas and promoting balanced regional development.
However, the EU's excessive protection of farmers has also brought a heavy financial burden to itself. Germany, the Netherlands and many other member countries have called for the reform of agricultural policies. In recent years, the EU has also reformed its agricultural subsidy policy many times. However, since the agricultural reform in the EU involves the adjustment of the interests of all member States, farmers and consumers, its difficulty can be imagined.
More than 90% farmers have joined one or several cooperatives.
Although most small farmers in EU countries are decentralized, they have developed a large number of trade organizations. There is a simple reason. In the face of ruthless market and other interest groups, the power of individual farmers is extremely small. Only by uniting can we have scale effect and safeguard our own interests.
France and the Netherlands have developed agriculture, and the annual export volume of agricultural products is second only to that of the United States. Their diverse and well-organized agricultural cooperative models are also amazing. There are more than 6,000 cooperatives in France, and more than 90% of farmers have joined one or several cooperatives. The agricultural cooperative system in France is very perfect. On the basis of various industries and regional cooperatives, there are also cross-regional cooperatives and even national cooperative associations.
There are many kinds of agricultural cooperatives in France and the Netherlands, with a wide range of business fields. It can be said that as long as farmers have demand, cooperatives will intervene. Generally speaking, there are three kinds of cooperative activities: one is the processing and circulation of agricultural products, including the purchase, sale and supply of agricultural production materials. For example, cooperatives provide farmers with agricultural materials such as feed, fertilizer and agricultural machinery, reducing farmers' costs. Farmers sell agricultural products to cooperatives, which then process and sell them. After the cooperative is sold, most of the profits will be returned according to the share of raw materials provided by farmers. This can not only avoid letting farmers bear market risks alone, but also increase farmers' income.
The second is the field of agricultural services. Various professional cooperatives have formed a scientific and rigorous rural socialized service system such as seed identification, product testing, warehousing and technical training. There are even artificial insemination cooperatives in France, which provide artificial insemination for livestock according to the strict national standards for animal species selection.
The third is the field of agricultural finance. The rural cooperative finance in France and the Netherlands is very developed. There are various forms of credit cooperatives in France, among which the French Agricultural Credit Bank is the largest bank in France, and 90% of the farmers are customers of the Agricultural Bank. The Dutch cooperative bank accounts for 90% of the Dutch agricultural credit market, and farmers who participate in this credit bank can get 0.5 percentage points lower than the ordinary interest rate.
It can be said that cooperatives have effectively changed the weak position of individual farmers, enabling farmers not only to obtain value-added benefits of agricultural products, but also to obtain economies of scale, enabling them to share the profits in all aspects of agricultural products processing, storage, transportation and sales, and effectively increasing farmers' income.
It is worth mentioning that all forms of farmers' organizations in the EU are mutually beneficial non-governmental economic organizations that farmers participate in on a completely voluntary basis and are managed by farmers themselves. At the same time, the government provides strong support and guarantee for these organizations, including legal support, tax incentives and credit support. The government recognizes the status of these farmers' organizations as spokesmen for farmers' interests, and actively negotiates and communicates with these organizations when formulating policies involving farmers, rural areas and agriculture, so as to reduce misunderstandings and contradictions between the government and farmers and promote agricultural development and rural prosperity.
The United States says that the EU spends 50% of its total budget on subsidies, which gives EU farmers (only 2% of the EU's total population) an advantage in foreign markets. Germany, France, Britain and Austria criticized the EU's reform plan of government subsidy principle. They believe that this reform of the principle of government subsidies, presided over by Nelly Croche, the EU Competition Commissioner, will lead to many problems such as rising unemployment rate and enterprise relocation.