Reaping the whirlwind



Full of holes. As the country’s farmers have once again taken to the streets, it is now clear that Greek governments’ system of state
subsidies in return for political support has backfired

Payback time

It is ironic that PASOK, which
created the monster of subsidycharged
activist farmers, should be
faced with this problem

It is a rite of winter: Just before seeding

time, farmers drive their tractors onto the

nation’s highways and drag the country

into their belligerent struggle for survival.

Farmers might have many legitimate reasons

to be angry as their way of life is

threatened but they have also provided the

rest of Greece with reasons to be angry.

The root of the problem is that, as a class,

farmers have been pampered and pandered

to over the last three decades to such

an extent that they cannot survive without

forcing governments – and the rest of

the population – to keep acceding to their

demands for assistance. The farmers did

not complain when successive governments

went to bat for them in Brussels and

came back loudly proclaiming victory in

achieving high subsidies for their products.

The farmers did not complain when those

same governments neglected to tell them

that they should use the subsidies wisely,

not as a bonus to be spent in a frenzy

but as assistance to become more productive,

to adopt new techniques and to

make the leap to crops and products that

would sell well on the international markets.

Even if they did see the clouds on the

horizon, farmers, farm unionists and government

officials all pretended that farm

subsidies were such an important part of

the country’s political culture that no

one would accede to any demands –

whether from the EU or the World Trade

Association – for their abolition.

The system of farm subsidies (often inflated)

in return for votes was, in other words, “too

big to fail.” The understanding was that

no party would dare start a war with the

heartland and would therefore do all in its

power to keep farmers happy.

And so the merry bands of tractor jockeys

took over the highways again. This time,

though, things are different. They are not

as organized as in the past and their demands

and actions differ according to their

specific areas. This was more a grassroots

movement with media-savvy farmers

serving as spokesmen in interminable televised

clashes with Agriculture Development

Minister Katerina Batzeli and disapproving

TV anchors. The hapless minister

– an expert on farm policy due to previous

work as a consultant for the biggest

farm union, PASEGES, and her term as a

Euro MP – has battled to keep up with who

is who and what is demanded by each

“blockade” (as the various groups call

themselves). She has the seemingly impossible

task of trying to offer the farmers

enough changes to the way they work

and the way in which they receive aid and

subsidies without having any cash to

give them. At the same time, she is part

of a government that is not quite sure

whether it should send prosecutors against

the farmers or just wait for them to tire and

go home. This from a party that has, with

few exceptions, used state money and EU

funds to buy farmers’ favor.

The simple fact is that the government has

no money to give the farmers; even if it did,

at a time when markets and EU officials

doubt that Prime Minister George Papandreou

has the political will to curb Greece’s

deficit and public debt, conceding to any

financial demands would prove the cynics

right. Bulgaria claims it has lost hundreds

of millions of euros in trade because of the

border blockade and Greek businesses say

they are losing about 25 million euros per

day. Bad though this is for the economy and

for the businesses involved, a government

concession that it cannot rein in public

spending would cost far more as fears

of bankruptcy would increase bond rates.

It is ironic that PASOK, which created the

monster of subsidy-charged activist farmers,

should be faced with this problem. At

the same time, staring down the farmers

would be the simplest, cheapest way to

prove to Greece and the world that this government

really does intend to get the country

onto its feet.

Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:

Δημοσίευση σχολίου