22-06-2005 13:31									#1
	EU set to slash EU subsidies Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4117590.stm

Am I wrong or Blair was fighting to open a door already opened?

	22-06-2005 13:34									#2
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Don't we know have three threads on subsidies?

	22-06-2005 13:38									#3
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BTW DanS already posted this article one of the other two threads on ag subsidies. Also the biggest change will be the price controls will be partially removed not that subsidies will cease. Currently the EU government sets a price that farmers get for sugar crops and a price that sugar refiners get for processing sugar. The problem is those prices are 300% of the world market price and protectionism along with a complex quota system are used to keep them high.

These artificial price controls are going to be removed.

	22-06-2005 13:49									#4
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quote: The Commission is proposing huge changes. The guaranteed prices for growers and processing firms will be slashed by up to 42% over a three-year period. Farmers and firms that can no longer make money from sugar production will be offered compensation to leave the industry. But the impact on some EU member nations will be severe. The BBC has seen an internal Commission report assessing the outcome. It says that in Ireland, Greece, Italy and Portugal "sugar production is likely to be drastically reduced or even phased out". In other countries including Denmark, Finland and Spain, sugar production is likely to fall to significantly lower levels. But in more efficient producing countries - including the UK, France and Germany - it is likely that overall production will be broadly unchanged.

It looks like a serious corrective action.