Scrap the CAP!

international | eu | opinion/analysis Friday December 16, 2005 13:18 by Lefty type

The WTO is meeting in Hong Kong this week...

This week the WTO is holding a meeting in Hong Kong, to discuss amongst other things, farm subsidies. Now we all know that there are very few millionaire farmers, yet at the same time, farmers within the EU are amongst some of the most well off in the world. The EU subsidises every single cow within its borders to the tune of approximately $2.79 a day. At the same time half of the world’s population survive on less than this amount every day. That’s approximately 3,000,000,000 people who are less well off than our livestock. Overall, agricultural subsidies are worth £300bn ($465.6bn), six times the amount of foreign aid to poor countries

The EU’s system of export subsidies and import tariffs has led to a situation where veritable “food mountains” exist. Each year the EU forks out millions simply to dispose of this excess produce. We are spending taxpayer’s money to dispose of food that we have spent taxpayer’s money to produce. Yet at the same time in sub-Saharan Africa alone nearly thirty million people face food shortages this year. In Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, more than 16 million people may go hungry in the months to come. This is an absolute disgrace and every single European should be ashamed. Obviously we could simply hand over some of this excess food to those most in need, but this is not the answer and should not happen, save in the most extreme of emergencies, like the post-quake crisis that is taking place in Pakistan.

These food shortages occur as a direct result of our tariff/subsidy system. Export subsidies lead to “dumping” of food in other markets, effectively meaning that it is sold below cost. This has a devastating effect on local economies, that simply cannot compete with the financial and marketing muscle of Western European agri-business. So not only are local farmers in poor countries denied access to our vast market, they are restricted from selling produce in their local market. They simply cannot compete, and their livelihoods are being ruined. Without an outlet for their produce, many farmers in less developed countries are going bankrupt, and are relying on the handouts that we give them; handouts which are causing their poverty in the first place.

For too long, we in the EU have had it easy. We must face up to the actions that are taking place on our behalf. Billions of people the world over are suffering to support our cushy existence. As a white, male, english speaking European I have had a pretty easy deal in life. I have had the opportunity to go to college (albeit the misfortune of studying commerce!). Ireland is the 3rd richest country in the world according to the Economist. Yet people are too pre-occupied with their iPods (funny how Bono & co. want to “make poverty history” yet flog this crap) and Starbucks coffees or moaning about traffic & rents. This year’s Live8 was an unmitigated failure. Bob Geldof has been hailed as a saviour and a living saint because he had the foreign debt cancelled for many of the world’s poorest countries THIS DID NOT HAPPEN. The G8 announced that it would grant 100% debt relief to 18 countries, yet 2 months later a leaked document from the World Bank showed that the G8 had promised enough money only to write off their repayments for the next three years. Throwing money at a problem does not solve it in any case, the EU must permit poorer countries to be self-sufficient, and allow them unrestricted access to our markets. Now this might cause some hardship here and maybe even some unemployment but it is only what we deserve. Our country is being propped up by a corrupt system, to the detriment of millions of people. This is simply unsustainable. The EU espouses free trade yet at the same time implements an incredible degree of protectionism. Farmers should not be rewarded for harvesting excess produce. It is time that we scrapped the CAP system altogether.

credit to following sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2119792.stm
http://fpc.org.uk/articles/320
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1269088.stm
http://www.careusa.org/newsroom/specialreports/southernafrica/index.asp
http://www.fcpp.org/publication_detail_print.php?PubID=555
http://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/1999/english/19991104_berlin.html
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/09/06/the-man-who-betrayed-the-poor/
http://www.scrapthecap.com/