Yesterday's International Herald Tribune contained a piece examining exactly what's behind the French intransigence which is currently threatening the future of the Doha trade round. Extract below:-


For those living outside France, there is puzzlement over the French government's vehement defense of its farmers, who today make up just 3.5 percent of its population.

French production of milk, beef and wine, among other farm products, brings in billions of euros every year.

But in the context of the modern French economy they add up to very little.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development calculates that 2.7 percent of France's economy is devoted to agriculture.

So what is behind France's resistance?

Soudé says France is opposed to any measure that could jeopardize the Common Agricultural Policy, the European system of subsidies and regulations.

"France always had a special link to agriculture and to the terroir," he said.

"We have a relationship with food that is not the same in other European Union countries. We have a culture of good eating, which we treasure."

There is also the obvious fact that France receives almost 10 billion, or $12 billion, in agricultural subsidies from Brussels every year, by far the largest share of the 53 billion program.
[...]
But there is also a curious aspect to the French position that suggests the controversy is more about pride than economics.

The main points of contention in the WTO trade negotiations are the tariffs that the European Union imposes on a long list of agricultural products.

Yet many of these tariffs are unnecessary because parts of European agriculture are competitive enough to stand on their own, according to Stefan Tangermann, head of the agricultural division of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and one of the leading experts on the common agricultural policy.

"In economic terms, the EU doesn't need these tariffs as much as they did in the past," Tangermann said.

"I don't really think for many of the products that Europe produces - wheat, cheeses, fresh milk, yogurt, a good part of beef production - that there is huge room for imports. Europe's farmers are reasonably competitive."

Tangermann also says the deal that the EU is proposing - but that France opposes - would not put many farmers in jeopardy.

"The offer that the EU has put on the table is not an order of magnitude that would fundamentally undermine the viability of farmers in the European Union," he said.


Far be it from me to downplay the pleasures of a glass of good vin rouge accompanied by a hefty chunk of camembert, but to taunt the poor of the world with metaphorical cries of "Let them eat brie!" is beyond grotesque. Pass me the "free trade" fries - it's time to declare war on terroir.