Farm support, who gets what?

: European Commission (photo) (Photo: www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=109075)

Farm support, who gets what?

Since 2004, all Danes have been able to see what support is being paid to Danish farmers and businesses from EU funds in Brussels.

Journalists Keld Hansen and Niels Mulvad of the Danish International Center for Analytical Reporting (DICAR) won a case through the Danish Ombudsman and obtained the information, which the Danish Government and the European Commission never wanted to supply to the Danish Members of the European Parliament – nor the public.

From 2009, all member states of the EU were obliged to publish agricultural support.

Support data can be viewed on http://www.farmsubsidy.org/.

Unfortunately, the EU Court stopped publication for reasons of privacy, see Court cases C-92/09 and C-93/09. The Commission promised to publish the recipients when the Barroso Commission took office in 2004.

Both Barroso himself and the incoming Commission vice president Siim Kallas gave the promise to Jens-Peter Bonde during the public hearings of the proposed commissioners.