subsidies in return for political support has backfired
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
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
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
deficit and public debt, conceding to any
financial demands would prove the cynics
right.
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
really does intend to get the country
onto its feet.
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