http://capreform.eu/more-on-capping-direct-payments/ Europe's common agricultural policy is broken - let's fix it! Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:51:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 http://capreform.eu/more-on-capping-direct-payments/comment-page-1/#comment-2956 CAP Health Check » Blog Archive » Specious arguments against limiting payments to largest farms Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:12:41 +0000 http://capreform.eu/2007/10/06/more-on-capping-direct-payments/#comment-2956 [...] This is because of the operation of the franchise which exempts the first €5,000 payments from modulation. Over 80% of EU farmers received less than €5,000 in direct payments in 2005, so would be unaffected by the increase in the modulation rate. Applying the additional compulsory rate of modulation of 8% to the remainder (on their payments above €5,000) would remove around €1.7 billion in Pillar 1 payments from the richest 20% of farmers. In contrast, the Commission’s tapering proposal would yield a more modest €0.5 billion. [...] [...] This is because of the operation of the franchise which exempts the first €5,000 payments from modulation. Over 80% of EU farmers received less than €5,000 in direct payments in 2005, so would be unaffected by the increase in the modulation rate. Applying the additional compulsory rate of modulation of 8% to the remainder (on their payments above €5,000) would remove around €1.7 billion in Pillar 1 payments from the richest 20% of farmers. In contrast, the Commission’s tapering proposal would yield a more modest €0.5 billion. [...]

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