CAP-ital payments
When statistics were released last Saturday by most member states, refunds on their exports out of Europe helped them top the lists.
In the year to last October, the €177.9 million paid to Tereos was the largest payout in the EU.
Not far behind was another French sugar company, Saint Louis Sucre, earning €143.7m.
A Polish sugar firm got €135.8m, Spain’s Azucarera Ebro sugar processor got €119.4m from the CAP, and a Belgian sugar refiner was next on the list with €81.3m.
Eight refiners in Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, France, Belgium and Greece got between €52m and €76m each.
However, the top CAP earner in Germany was the Nordmilch dairy company, at €51.1m. Germany’s Sudzucker, the world’s leading sugar company, was paid €42.9m, again mostly in the form of subsidy to allow EU exporters send their relatively expensive sugar onto world markets.
Huge subsidies were needed despite global sugar prices more than doubling last year to a 30-year high.
Meanwhile, food companies were also the big beneficiaries in Ireland, from about €1.9 billion of CAP subsidies paid out in the year to last October.
It went to 137,736 beneficiaries, leaving the average payment at €14,019.54.
The Irish Dairy Board topped the list with €7,928,238, followed by Commercial Mushroom PRS Co-op in Monaghan with €4,771,652, and Bailie Foods of Bailieboro, Co Cavan, which received €3,344,459.
As with the sugar companies, export refunds featured heavily. Glanbia Ingredients at Virginia, Co Cavan received €3,175,708. Abbott Irl, Cootehill, Co Cavan got €1,725,126; and €1,131,479 was paid to RA Bailey Ltd, Nangor, Dublin 12. Wyeth Nutritionals Ireland, Askeaton, Co Limerick got €1,092,144; and €515,115 went to pigmeat processors, Rosderra Irish Meats Group, Edenderry, Co Offaly.
The only individual recipient to feature in the top 10 payments was Walter Furlong, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, getting a Single Farm Payment of €402,252.
