E.E.C. farm subsidies could reach $l5 billion

Press, 4 June 1982, Page 7

E.E.C. farm subsidies could reach $l5 billion

NZPA-Reuter Brussels

European Economic Community spending on controversial farm subsidies could rise sharply next year, say E.E.C. sources. A confidential memorandum drawn up last month by the Community’s Farm Commissioner, Mr Poul Dalsager, of Denmark, said the $l4 billion designated for subsidies in the 1983 budget would not be enough, they said.

Mr Dalsager said that more than $14.5 billion would be needed for production and export subsidies for the E.E.C.’s eight million farmers, the sources said. Some officials believe that 1983 spending could reach ,$l5 billion, a steep rise from $l3 billion this year. Farm spending, which consumes about two-thirds of the E.E.C.’s budget, is one of the most explosive political issues in the 10-nation Community. Seven members last month overturned a British veto on near-record annual, farmprice increases of 10.5 per cent, starting a serious political crisis...