First, what about Poland? Isn't their agricultural economy pretty big? Do they get the same CAP funding that France gets?
Second, the story in the U.S. press is that Europe is a lot worse than us from the viewpoint of shutting out third world competition. I don't know how to evaluate this, and Bussereau's comments seem kind of self-serving. Are there numbers from the U.N. or World Bank or somebody "neutral" to support his assertion?
The revenue of farmers in Poland has increased by about 50% since they joined the EU; more interestingly, Polish ag. exports to the rest of the EU have skyrocketed (whereas there were fears that Western "subsidised" products would overwhelm the Polish market).
As regards US arguments about EU farming, don't forget that the US is just as bad an offender in terms of ag subsidies, and any accusation thrown around is usually self-serving and partial (the same holds true on the EU side, of course). I reply on poor countries below. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
