Brussels: The European Commission unveiled plans today to shake up Europe s farm subsidies in a bid to make costly hand-outs more relevant to the modern world as the sector enjoys the strongest boom in generations. While past reforms have geared the European Union's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) towards reining in production, farmers are now struggling to keep up with surging demand fuelled by explosive growth in China and India.

Kicking off a six-month review of the CAP, the EU's executive arm floated the idea of capping hand-outs to the biggest farms, phasing out milk quotas, scrapping rules on keeping land fallow and guaranteed minimum cereals prices.
 
Based on the findings of the review, the Commission is to come forward with reform proposals in May that would both modernise and simplify Europe s support of its farms.
It would then be up to member states and the European Parliament to decide on any reforms in the second half of 2008,when France, the biggest recipient of EU farm subsidies, holds the bloc's rotating presidency.

The Commission wants the new wave of reforms to build on an earlier shake-up in 2003,just before the EU took in 10 mostly former communist countries in May 2004 and whose farming sectors have had to modernise quickly. "We need to look at whether we need to adjust the CAP for an EU of 27 (members) and a rapidly changing world," EU Farm Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said.

"The changes I propose will make a real difference for farmers, consumers and taxpayers," she added.
Set up in 1962,the CAP eventually exceeded its original aim of ensuring Europe s food sufficiency and led to chronic overproduction that drove down prices and left many farmers dependent on EU handouts.

Source : PTI