One of the objectives for EU agricultural policy set out in the Treaty of Rome (now the Lisbon Treaty) is to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particular by increasing the individual earnings of persons engaged in agriculture. In its Communication The Future of Food and Farming in November 2017 that launched the public consultation phase of the current CAP reform, the Commission included a graph comparing average farmer income with average gross wages and salaries in the total economy to make the point that farmers’ income is still lagging behind salaries in the whole economy. Thus it concluded that “direct payments [that partially fill the gap between agricultural income and income in other economic sectors] remain an essential part of the CAP in line with its EU Treaty obligations”.
The Commission continues to use this comparison in support of its argument that direct payments are necessary to close this perceived income gap between farm and non-farm incomes.… Read the rest