"ministers have decided to highlight what they privately call the 'French rebate'. This is the £7bn in agricultural subsidies which go to France every year, almost 25% of the EU's entire budget in this area, compared with £2.5bn which goes to Britain."
The French and indedd the EU might witsh they'd thought a bit more deeply about this. I highlight it becasue one of the issues that aid charities in the UK are highlighting is that CAP is a major hindrance to fair and free trade. It is hypocritical that the EU promotes free trade and doesn't practice it. [Ditto the USA when it comes to farm subsidies -calling for -and enforcing through the WTC- LDC's to open up their markets while refusing to do so them/ourselves]. I hope that this is the beginning of the end for it. But make no mistake there are huge entrenced interests. On the other hand the Geldof-Brown axis could yet proove to be powerful at Live 8....
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | UK launches offensive on EU rebate:
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