EU sugar and dairy companies largest recipients of farm subsidies

Larger operators dominate the payments lists, according to analysis from the campaign group

David Hencke: Who received EU farm subsidies last year? Whitehall won't say
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Sugar and dairy processing companies were once again among the largest recipients of European farm subsidies last year, according to data released at the weekend. Intensive analysis by the campaign group has shown that larger operators dominate the payments lists, which EU member states are now required by new laws to disclose at the end of each April.

In France, three giant sugar companies received the largest payments under the Common Agricultural Policy (Tereos €178m, St Louis Sucre €144m, and Cristal Union €57m), while in Spain the top recipient of subsidies was sugar company Azucarera Ebro (€119m) and in Germany the world's largest sugar processor and trader Sudzucker was second largest recipient (€42.9m). Sudzucker's Polish subsiairy received a further €66m. Tate and Lyle has been among the top UK recipients of CAP subsidies in previous years, but where it sits in this year's British league of handouts from Brussels will not now be known until early next week, as the UK has withheld its data until after the election.

The sugar industry has been paid these latest subsidies to reduce processing capacity in the Europe following a ruling by the World Trade Organisation that its sugar export subsidies were anti-competitive.

Multimillion euro payments were also made to some of the largest dairy companies in Europe which process milk into powder and concentrated fats for food manufacturing. The EU reintroduced export subsidies for milk powder and butter last year to bail out the dairy sector, enabling the processors and traders to benefit from high prices fixed in the EU while dumping excess production on world markets. Aid agencies have been highly critical of EU export subsidies which they say make it impossible for poorer countries to compete. Health groups have also criticised the payments for making industrial fats and sugars artificially cheap for junk food production.

The number of farmers and food companies who received individual payments of more than €1m this year have also increased by more than 20% on the previous year, according to Germany has 268 millionaire recipients, while France has 174 subsidy millionaires, including several banana-producing companies in French overseas territories. Altogether France's subsidy millionaires took over €1bn in 2009.

The co-founder of Jack Thurston said that latest figures showed once again that the EU's CAP funnelled money to the largest operators who least needed it and needed radical overhauling. "Messing around with agricultural markets helps the big guys who don't need it. If smaller farmers who struggle to stay competitive need to be supported because they provide social and environmental benefits, they should be paid from social and environmental funds, because ultimately market interventions don't work."

This year's figures have thrown up the usual harvest of bizarre payments too. The youngest recipient of CAP funds in Sweden is 14 years old, while two Swedish recipients are listed as 100 years old, but are both dead. An ice-skating club in the Netherlands took €162,444, while an accordian club in Sweden received €59,585. Some payments have been made of less than one euro, ensuring that the cost of administering them vastly exceeds their value.

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