The Greens in Germany plan to subsidize mainly organic farms in the future, writes the Austrian newspaper Exxpress on January 24.
Martin Häusling, member of the EU Committee on Agriculture (AGRI) and Rural Development and coordinator of the Greens/EFA group, proposed a reorganization of EU agricultural subsidies. The parliamentarian proposed linking support for farmers to the production of organic products: the more Bio products, the greater the EU funding.
Häusling’s proposal has already been reflected in the Greens’ electoral program in the EU. Such a decision could threaten the livelihoods of other farmers, experts say.
Häusling explained in Berlin that if agriculture is carried out only “normal agriculture”, should not receive any subsidy. According to the politician, organic farming should “Become the guiding principle of European agricultural policy and the standard premium for public financing.”
In future, subsidies should not be determined by the size of farms, but by compliance with environmental standards. Currently, direct EU payments are mainly received by farms with large areas of land: 80% of the funds are allocated through land allocations.
According to the green politician, farmers’ cost-benefit calculations do not focus on ecological standards. Häusling complained in an interview with Focus Online magazine that “Many farms feel that paying attention to nature, the environment and animal welfare is a waste of profits compared to simply paying a premium per hectare.”.
Häusling is committed to ensuring that future EU agricultural financing (i.e. direct payments under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)) is only allocated to “protection of the environment, climate or water resources and animal welfare”.
Experts predict that the redistribution of subsidies will have far-reaching consequences. Currently, almost a third of EU farmers’ income depends on subsidies.
In Germany, according to some data, this figure reaches 43%. If future financial support to farmers is distributed according to completely different criteria, many farmers could be left without a means of subsistence.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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