EU Proposes to Overhaul Farm Subsidies

欧盟农业改革计划将改变农业补贴

　



The European Union's executive commission has unveiled an agricultural reform plan for the 27-member block that aims to overhaul farm funding to better meet current challenges - including global warming and the recent spike in world food prices.

　

欧洲联盟的执行委员会星期二公布了一个农业改革计划。根据这项计划，欧盟的27个成员国将彻底调整农业资金，以便更好地面对目前的挑战，其中包括全球气候变暖和近来的世界粮食价格暴涨等问题。

The plan by the European Commission aims to fundamentally change how agricultural subsidies are handed out - and to give farmers more flexibility on what crops and how much they can grow.

　

欧盟委员会这项计划的目的是从根本上改变农业补贴的发放，并在种植什么作物和种植多少等方面给予农场主更多的灵活性。

In presenting what she called the "health check" in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday, European agricultural commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said it aims to modernize and streamline agriculture in the 27-member European Union and give farmers greater freedom.

　

欧盟农业专员波尔在法国斯特拉斯堡公布这项计划的时候表示，这项计划将使拥有27个成员国的欧洲联盟在农业方面实现现代化和一体化，给予农场主更大的自由。他把这项计划称作一次“健康检查。”

"When we started preparing our health check we were in a completely different time, but recently we have seen prices going up, we have seen new challenges coming up -- energy, climate change," she said. "So I think we are very timely with our new proposal that meets exactly the new requirements of the public."

　

“在我们开始准备这项健康检查的时候，我们处于一个完全不同的时期，可是最近，我们看到价格上涨，我们看到新的挑战层出不穷，比如能源、环境变化等等。所以我认为，我们现在提出新的计划是非常及时的，我们恰恰呼应了公众的新的要求。”

Among other proposals, the EU plan would reduce subsidies for larger European farms in favor of underwriting smaller rural development projects. It would also move away from traditional subsidies and production quotas - and eventually scrap a practice of making farmers set aside 10 percent of their land due to overproduction.

　

根据这项农业改革计划，欧盟将减少对欧洲大型农场的补贴，把更多的资金用于扶持较小的农村开发项目。欧盟还将逐步减少传统的补贴和生产配额，最终取消那种让农场主为了防止生产过剩而让10%的土地休耕的做法。

In order to pass, the plan needs the approval of all EU member nations along with the European Parliament. On Monday, EU agriculture ministers meeting in Brussels agreed Europe needs to increase its food production, but that does not mean the new reforms will be adopted.

　

这项计划要得到通过，还必须赢得欧盟所有成员国以及欧洲议会的批准。在此之前，欧盟各国的农业部长在布鲁塞尔开会时同意增加粮食产量。但是这并不意味着新的改革计划将被接纳。

A number of agricultural ministers oppose dismantling the current system of EU farm subsidies and regulation, which particularly favors countries with large agricultural sectors, such as Germany and France.

　

好几位农业部长都表示反对解除欧盟目前的农业补贴和管理体系。这一体系对于德国和法国等拥有庞大农业部门的国家特别有利。

The proposals coincide with a new study by the European Commission looking into reasons for the recent world food price rises. Among other factors, the report blamed high energy costs, increasing demand for biofuels, slowing growth in cereal yields and poor harvests in key countries producing and exporting cereals for the price increases.

　

这项新的计划的公布跟欧盟委员会发表的一份关于世界粮食价格上涨的研究报告不谋而合。欧盟委员会的研究报告指出，粮食价格暴涨的主要原因是能源成本升高、生物燃料需求增加、谷类作物收成增长减缓、以及生产和出口粮食的主要国家歉收。