EU again

[empip]

Whatever next?

...City dwellers are making huge profits out of an EU loophole that allows people who have never set foot on a farm to claim European farm subsidies.

The loophole allows investors to become classified officially as farmers and then buy the right to receive annual EU subsidies to cut agricultural production. Because the subsidies are decoupled from the land they relate to, investors do not need actually to own the ground they are claiming for or even go anywhere near it.

The profits to be made are enormous, with investors potentially increasing their capital nearly fivefold in 5 years...

...Giles Lane, of C&D Property Services, which brokers the rights to farm subsidies, said: 'You don't need a farm to claim the entitlements. Sitting in your living room in London you could be claiming them.

One farmer emigrated to Australia and he's still claiming the entitlements from there. It seems bizarre, but it's totally legal. It's how the Government wanted to set up the reforms.'

George Paton, of the agricultural brokers WebbPaton, who did 15 deals in one day last week, said: 'This entitlement is detached from land. You pay £130 per hectare, and you get £624 per hectare back by 2012. It's better than a building society, but it is high risk.'

The money will be paid until the next wave of EU farm reforms, which will not happen until 2013 at the earliest.


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