the CAP

"The average British family shells out over £450 a year to pay for European agriculture subsidies, including cash to artificially inflate prices... EU farm subsidies are costing the European consumer over £61 billion."
Journalist Bruno Waterfield

"This policy is one of the biggest factors in the starvation of Africa, smothering Africa's agricultural industries in their cot by making it impossible for poor farmers to sell competitively in the most enticing markets. For every one euro we give to Africa, the EU takes away seven euros in thwarted trade."
Journalist Johann Hari

What is it?
The Common Agricultural Policy is a system of farm subsidy throughout the EU. It currently accounts for 45% of the EU budget.

What effect does it have?
The CAP insulates inefficient, small-scale farms from economic reality so that they don't need to modernise. Whilst it keeps the French countryside looking pretty, it also keeps third world farmers in poverty by erecting tariff barriers to deny them fair access to European markets. At the same time it pays European farmers to produce more than they can sell, then dumps the excess on third world markets, with the result that third world farmers can't sell their produce at home either.

The devastation the CAP inflicts on the third world far outweighs the benefits of EU aid. To put it in context, every cow in Europe receives 100 times as much financial support from the EU as every human in sub-Saharan Africa.

Are there plans to reform it?
Like reform of MEP's expenses and perks, reform of the CAP is one of those issues that is constantly discussed but never actually carried out. For example, Tony Blair's capitulation in increasing Britain's contribution to the EU budget in December 2005 was on the rather vague condition that reform of the CAP be "considered". In the event, the new budget devoted an even larger proportion to the CAP than its predecessor.

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