Expect no CAP revolution

By André Assan - 14.12.2006 / 00:00 CET

European Voice says that the EU budget will never be the same in the future, since the new rules on transparency would show people how unfairly the EU money is being distributed and citizens will hopefully put pressure on their governments to change it (‘CAP payments? Citizens must demand change', 7-13 December).
While I agree that the opportunity for change is tremendous, I am afraid change will take time.
We have all known, for a while, that the main beneficiaries of EU farm subsidies are large multinationals and agro-industrial giants, and not small farmers. The only difference is that now we will have the exact figures and the exact names. And while the French are likely to be shocked when they see that the equivalent of McDonald's for farms are fattened by EU subsidies, will they take any action against it? After all, although McDonald's are in France periodically destroyed by anti-globalisation activists, French people are large consumers of McDonald's food, despite their taste for quality and healthy eating.
The CAP transparency deal could lead to some slow change in the way people look at the EU budget, but there will be no revolution.

André Assan
Brussels

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