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European farmers struggling to survive on income that had not risen since 1993
02.06.2010 13:49 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Thousands of hot and noisy farmers rallied outside a gathering of European Union ministers on Tuesday to demand continued subsidies and regulatory support they said was vital to the survival of the farming industry.
Members of four leading farmers unions from across Spain, wearing straw hats under the 37-degree sun, shouted from behind police barricades as ministers met to discuss the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP), which has an annual budget of 50 billion euros ($60.8 billion) and is due for reform in 2013.
At stake in the CAP talks, the farmers said, is a strategic sector that guarantees food supplies for 500 million people, employs 12 million farmers and 30 million people in the food industry and costs the average European 2 euros a week. While France supports strong regulation of agricultural markets, Britain is arguing for a shift in spending, citing tight public finances and other priorities such as climate change.
Ricardo Serra, vice president of Spains biggest farmers union, Asaja, said that without subsidies European farmers would have to compete on unequal terms with producers from outside the region.
«We compete with third countries that do not comply with a series of rules, while we do on environmental, social and labour issues,» Serra said on the sidelines of the demonstration in Merida, in the Spanish rural heartland region of Extremadura.
«If we want a live and active farm sector, we have to have a suitable budget,» he said. «They either give us some sort of support, or the sector will simply be dismantled.»
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