Professor of Agricultural Economics and CRE Associate David Harvey was sharing his expertise on BBC Radio 4 this week during Common Agricultural Policy negotiations going on in Strasbourg. Speaking on Farming Today, he explained why this is such a hot topic in Europe, with countries such as France, Ireland, Spain and the newer members from Eastern Europe arguing in favour of maintaining agricultural subsidies, while the net contributors such as Germany, the UK and the Netherlands want to reduce spending. Professor Harvey, who has been following the development of the CAP over many decades, concludes that the result this time round is likely to be confined to greater flexibility for member states in how they allocate money between farmers and wider rural development. But he also warns: “Farmers may be able to rely on subsidies until 2020, but after that all bets are off.”
published on: 27th November 2012