Spotlight on farm subsidy cheques

GOING public with details of individual Irish farmers’ EU farm subsidy cheques may be a step closer, as German opposition to the transparency sought by Brussels weakens.

Some German regions are still objecting, on local privacy law grounds, but the major farming region of Bavaria, as well as German farmers’ associations, and agriculture minister Horst Seehofer have thrown their weight behind the European Commission’s idea to disclose who gets what from the EU’s €43 billion a year Common Agricultural Policy funds.

According to the European Commission, Finland is also ready to move from its opposition to disclosing farmer payments.