Brussels, 21/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The proportion of farmers receiving low amounts of direct payments decreased in 2012 compared with 2011, and the average amount of support paid to farmers as direct payments increased - particularly in the member states that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007.
These are the main conclusions of the European Commission's annual report 2012, published on Friday 21 February, on the distribution of direct payments aming the EU member states. The Commission states that this evolution is due to a combination of ongoing structural adjustment (leading to a reduction in the number of farms) and the continued phasing-in of direct payments in newer member states. The report nevertheless shows considerable variation in the distribution among beneficiaries in each member state - on average, taking a benchmark direct payment figure of €5,000, some 80% of beneficiaries receive around 17% of payments. There are important differences between member states - while less than 40% of beneficiaries get less than €5,000 in direct payments in Luxembourg, France and Belgium, the figure is higher than 75% in Spain, Italy and Portugal (excluding those countries where payments are still being phased in). The Commission states that the differences between countries can be explained by the structure of payments, which depends largely on the structure of farms.
The Commission states that the new common agricultural policy (CAP) agreed in 2013 will ensure that direct payments will be distributed in a fairer way between member states, between regions and between farmers (with a further shift away from historical references).
In 2012, direct payments (€40.9 billion for 7.5 million beneficiaries) represented approximately 70% of the total CAP support provided to farmers. This represents a 1.7% increase as compared with 2011 (due to the continued phasing-in of direct payments in newer member states). In the lead, France received €7.9 billion in direct agricultural aid (366,000 beneficiaries). Next came Germany (€5.3 billion for 328,000 beneficiaries), Spain (€5.2 billion for 895,000 beneficiaries), Italy (€4billion for 1.2 million beneficiaries) and the UK (€3.3 billion). (LC/transl.fl)