European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Europe s runaway food surplus by Paul Lewis new Yore times Medhot t. Of Ood surpluses which h.= top Nyfors with crippling Bills and rivalled Sharp political tensions with Tho ice lol me world arc now lev Colong Lopi Jyh if european Community into bankruptcy the Nijm manily s 12 member states arc storing 5 million Lono of a icons b Eller and nearly in Fig que Mars of a Milbon tons of unwanted beef. Another million Ion of surplus milk is stored in powdered lorm Europe s Gram Mountain stands Al close to 17 million tons arid it wine Lake holds about 300 million Gallons of Mickals us the Community acknowledge the emergency ii the budget ceiling is to be respected painful decisions will be called  fire Community s budget commissioner Manning Christophersen said and Al the Summit meeting of she Community in London last month the president of its executive commission Jacques Delors described the financial situation As   blamed runaway farm spending and the higher Cost of Export subsidies the result o a falling Dollar that makes european prices relatively More expensive. The auditors far  Community estimate is unfunded spending commitments at s20 billion including a Likely $5 billion write off of much of to butter which costs to .3 billion a year to store the surpluses have  gradually during Tho 1980s, partly As a result of modern farming methods but mainly because of Irie common agricultural policy the Cap which gives european Farmers High guaranteed prices and Protection against Loic Ign Competition i rough levies on imports european Farmers then get Community subsidies for their Capori a o the Tower priced internal Iona Market. The agricultural policy Means that europeans pay Well Over the going world Rale Lor food Tho u 5 agriculture department recently estimated Hal the policy costs Consumers $29 billion a year or Aboul s100 a person but it has also transformed to con men  a big food importer Inlo a major a Porter the surpluses coinciding with an expansion of Larm output in Rhc developing world have forced world Lood prices Doivan and encouraged traditional agricultural exporting countries like the United Stales to furl her subsidize their armours too. So far m this decade world wheat supplies have risen 69 percent while prices have plunges 45 percent sugar stocks have risen 45 percent while prices have alien 86 percent Europe s bounteous production of butter has helped Cut world prices in half in 19bq, american taxpayers paid i heir Farmers about j2 7 billion in subsidies. This year i hey Wilt give them almost $30 billion the equivalent of about $700 from every non farm  in the country n Japan armours will get subsidies Worth $105 billion this year but Europe s Ood surpluses Are now so big and so costly and they have become 90 politically controversial. Thai governments of the Community seem finally to be preparing some action. The Cap is rapidly reaching the Point of self destruction the Community s agriculture commissioner Frans and Essen conceded even Sicco Mansholt the policy s chief architect who is a forme dutch agriculture minister is disillusioned it s a Crary situation  said in a pc cell interview adding Hal his original dream of providing a decent living for Europe s Small Farmers will be ruined if we go on As we Are How Jong can our leaders keep this game going Bertrand Dezon. A warehouse worker asked recently As  Slid open the is thermic door of a huge steel cold storage warehouse one of Many in Europe now filling up with unwanted food companies specializing in storing the food mountains like the one Oczon works Lor in the Eastern French cry of be mans say they Are getting out of the business we re Only interested in private Chels now. Not in common Market  Dezon said it can t Goon " european agriculture ministers sought m december to Cut the peaks Oli two food mountains with an agree men to reduce milk prod Iron by 10 percent Over the Neil two years and rower Tjie guaranteed Price politics tubs diet and modern tanning methods Are being blamed Fornum a Lood aug pow in Europe of Pho paid to Farmers for Bee but most analysts Are sceptical. A similar Reform in 1984, which placed quotas on mix output ended up increasing the butter Mountain. The latest programs will not bring much immediate financial Benefit because most of the Money saved will to used to help Farmers find other occupations. Milk output curbs also encourage Farmers to cull their herds adding to the beef Supply. The Aller native to pruning farm spending would be an unpopular increase in she f .4 percent slice of  National sales tax Revenue that in addition to All customs duties member countries give to the Community. But change is Likely to be slow Europe s farming population has Lallen from More than 20 percent of the work Torce Al the end of the world War ii to single digits in most countries today. And France has now joined Britain and West Germany As a net contributor to the Community s budget paying in More than it gats Back in Arm subsidies and other assistance thus acquiring a Riey interest in Economy nevertheless european politicians Are wary of their agricultural lobbies and reluctant to Force Lamers off the land when there Are few new jobs in factories. Farmers May account for Only 8 percent of France s working population but the country s agricultural Industry is the largest in Europe West Germany s numerous Small inefficient Farmers remain a powerful political Force. And in Ireland Greece Spain and Portugal farming accounts lot 18 percent to 30 percent of employment. Reducing prices is politically impossible says prime minister Jacques Chirac of France. The Community however is increasingly caught up in a web of International negotiations aimed at reforming the agricultural policy. The Reagan administration for example is trying to punch a major Hole in the policy s protectionist philosophy by demanding that american Farmers retain to Weir share of Spain s $500 million a year animal feed Grain Market despite the country s new membership in the Community but it is a High risk strategy with the United states threatening retaliation against european exports if it does not gel its Way and the europeans warning of their own retaliation. More important is the commitment to attack Larm subsidies that the United Stales. Europe and Japan made at the Tokyo economic meeting in 1986, in particular they plan to make use of an assessment by the organization for economic cooperation and development of the relative importance of Alt agricultural subsidies when they negotiate Trade offs. But the plans remain bogged Down in procedural squabbles at Geneva with France resisting any suggestion of a last Hack approach to farm liberalization. Page in the stars and stripes sunday january in 19b7