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Financing of the CAP

Albert Massot, European Parliament 2018. Facts Sheets on the European Union

Monday 19 November 2018, by Carlos San Juan


CAP budget 2014-2020

The percentage that agricultural expenditures represent in the budget of the European Union has been steadily decreasing for several years. If the CAP represented 66% of the Union budget at the beginning of the 1980s, it only amounts to 37.8% for the period 2014-2020 (3.2.10, table I, line D). Since 1992, the date of the first major reform of the CAP and the sharp increase in direct payments, agricultural expenditure has remained stable in real terms, with the exception of the years 1996 and 1997 (due to the ’mad cow’ crisis and the accession of three new Member States). Therefore, the budgetary cost of the CAP with respect to the gross national income (GNI) of the Union has decreased, going from 0.54% in 1990 to a forecast of 0.34% in 2020 (3.2.10, table I).

Distribution by country and type of exploitation

As Table V shows, for the 2016 budget year (3.2.10), France is the main beneficiary country of the CAP (14.8%), followed by Spain (11.6%), Germany (11.1%). ). %) and Italy (9.7%). However, with regard to EAFRD, Germany and Romania on the front of the beneficiaries (9.3% each), followed by Poland (9%) and Italy (8%).

It is necessary to emphasize the influence of the new Member States (EU-13) on the EAGF (21.8% in 2016). On the other hand, these countries already perceived a significant part of the EAFRD (34.8%), in the application of the priority given to the modernization of agricultural structures and the development of rural areas.

Column 2 of table V (3.2.10) also shows the unequal distribution of PAC direct aids among farms: 78.8% of PAC beneficiaries in the Europe of the Twenty-eight received less in 2016 of 5 000 euros per year, with an amount equivalent to 15.6% of the total of the aids paid under the EAGF. On the other hand, a very small percentage of farms (121 713 out of a total of 6.7 million, ie 1.81%) receive more than 50,000 euros, with a total amount equivalent to 12 570 million euros ( 14.57% of the total direct aids paid in 2016).

The countries with a higher percentage of large farms (or companies) that are beneficiaries of the CAP are Denmark, France, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Slovakia. This situation raises problems of legitimization of aid with respect to the values ​​of all European citizens.

To see the links to the tables go to the PDF document below

Attached documents


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