Brussels, 21/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - The German Green Friedrich Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, the vice-president of the committee on agriculture of the European Parliament, has apportioned the blame for the breakdown of the European Council over the financial perspectives 2007-2013 to the "narrow-mindedness" of Blair and Chirac. He feels that "the way out of crisis is obvious, and lies in the reallocation of EU agricultural subsidies to investment in innovation and the development of rural areas". The MEP avers that “subsidies which benefit the most prosperous industrial holdings alone, without demanding any social or ecological results, are not justified. 20% of European farms get 80% of all subsidies paid under the CAP". Parliament must act, said Mr Graefe zu Baringdorf, who calls upon the Council to " transfer an increasing amount of the current direct payments fund- the first pillar of the CAP- to rural development, the second pillar". He also calls for direct payments to be "limited in quantity and linked to the creation and maintenance of jobs and the preservation of nature". He points out that "rural development projects are not just limited to agriculture: 57% of EU citizens live in rural areas and also would benefit from efforts to make the rural economy more dynamic".