Today, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a plan to help aid ailing French farmers. The plan would call for pumping $2.45 billion in aid and pledging to get the EU to push for stricter foodstuff market regulations. This comes at a time when the European Commission is expected to next month propose cuts to the EU’s common agricultural policy. The EU has been pushing reform policies that would make farmers more responsive to the market and not subsidies.
According to the Wall Street Journal’s Gabrielle Parussini,
“Mr. Sarkozy pledged to push the EU to adopt mechanisms that can quell volatility in foodstuff markets, as well as introduce an EU-wide carbon tax to limit unfair competition from non-EU agricultural producers. "France has asked the commission to take the initiative in this field to quell increasing speculation and to supervise financial derivatives in these markets," he said.”President Sarkozy does not see this plan generating much opposition from the other members of the EU.
To view the Wall Street Journal article, click here.
Posted: 10/27/09
