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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Belgian Farmer Strikes Out at Top EU Court Over Refused Aid

Agricultural needs take up nearly 40% of the EU’s total budget, with more than $60 billion spent annually on supporting farmers.

LUXEMBOURG (CN) — The European Court of Justice found no discrimination Thursday in how Belgium applies farm-value determinations to cap agricultural support under an EU development program. 

One young Belgian farmer brought the case here after he took over one-third of his parents' farm. With his parents splitting the remaining two-thirds equally, CJ, as the young farmer is identified in court documents, applied to the regional government for start-up aid. The Walloon Region (Région wallonne in French) rejected him, however, on the grounds that the farm exceeded the maximum value allowed. 

Though the Wallonian government valued CJ's family farm at 1.9 million euros ($2.4 million), it did so by assessing the farm's entire operation rather than the portion that CJ owned by himself. 

Belgium sets a maximum value for farms that want support at 1 million euros ($1.1 million).

Because the grants come from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the Tribunal de première instance de Namur, or Namur Court of First Instance, referred CJ's challenge to the EU court system in Luxembourg. As of press time, the ensuing decision against CJ was not available in English.

The court's Fourth Chamber saw nothing discriminatory about considering the total value of the farm, noting that multiple farmers working together have more resources and are likely to be able to produce more. It is also not disputed that member states are allowed to set their own requirements for programs.

“Aid is granted not to promote, indiscriminately, the start-up of any agricultural holding, but only that of holdings which meet the conditions relating to the heads of holdings, the activities or the sizes of these holdings,” the five-judge panel wrote. 

The EU established the Common Agricultural Policy in 1962 under the shadow of food shortages brought on World War II, offering subsidies for farming and development of rural areas to ensure the continent would have a stable food supply. Today, such funding accounts for 40% of the EU’s budget, with more than $60 billion going to support farmers each year.

In recent years, criticism over costs and how the money is distributed in the 27-member bloc have escalated. A 2019 report by The New York Times found that much of the money is propping up corrupt business owners and politicians.


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Categories / Appeals, Financial, International

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