The myth of farm subsidies
Dear Editor,
Noticing your column on "Armchair Farmers" ripping off the EU, I proffer the following: that Polish farmers (and especially taxi drivers, doctors, etc.) with a few hectares of land will not be eligible for any EU subsidies at all.
It is a general misconception that ownership of land is all that is required to be eligible for EU handouts. As I understand the way the common agricultural policy works, only a tiny fraction of farmers (and all of them worthy, real farmers), taxi drivers and doctors owning rural lands will be in any way eligible for anything.
If there is a problem, it is not about anyone ripping off the EU, but with politicians not telling rural voters the truth - that is, that almost everyone in the Polish countryside doesn't stand to gain a penny in direct handouts.
John Borrell
Gdańsk
Noticing your column on "Armchair Farmers" ripping off the EU, I proffer the following: that Polish farmers (and especially taxi drivers, doctors, etc.) with a few hectares of land will not be eligible for any EU subsidies at all.
It is a general misconception that ownership of land is all that is required to be eligible for EU handouts. As I understand the way the common agricultural policy works, only a tiny fraction of farmers (and all of them worthy, real farmers), taxi drivers and doctors owning rural lands will be in any way eligible for anything.
If there is a problem, it is not about anyone ripping off the EU, but with politicians not telling rural voters the truth - that is, that almost everyone in the Polish countryside doesn't stand to gain a penny in direct handouts.
John Borrell
Gdańsk
