Subsidy WatchIssue 11, April 2007


Analysis

  • WTO hearings in Airbus-Boeing subsidy dispute available to the public

    The first hearings were held last month in the high-profile World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute between the United States and the European Union over subsidies to rival aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing.

    After months spent debating how to share information pertinent to the dispute, both sides we able to agree to the public airing of the hearings, although the closed-circuit transmissions were closely censored to protect confidential information.

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Commentary

  • The politics of inefficient irrigation technology*
    Sunita Narain

    Call it is one of the unknown Indian ironies. Over many years, the Indian state, through its public irrigation agencies, has systematically taken over the management of surface water systems. It has taken over the job of building irrigation systems-dams, reservoirs and canals-then maintaining these and supplying water. This has meant that over the years it has taken over water resources from the hands of village communities. The irony is that even as the state has vested this power in itself, people have taken water under their control.

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Studies

  • OECD study tells of rising agriculture subsidies in some developing countries; overall levels remain low

    The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released a report which states that agricultural subsides are rising in certain developing countries, although overall subsidy levels remain relative low in these countries compared to wealthier OECD nations.

    Agricultural Policies in Non OECD Countries: Monitoring and Evaluation 2007, released in part March 15, looked at government support to agriculture in eight non-OECD developing nations, including Brazil, India, China and Russia.

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  • Newly released EU CAP figures suggest most money not going to small farmers

    The European Union has released ‘indicative figures' on direct payments given to agricultural producers in 2005 under the Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The figures set out aid categories, the number of recipients and the total amounts of subsidies received by recipients in each category.

    According to the figures, the lowest category (those recipients who received between zero and 1,250 Euros) had over 4.3 million recipients, or 63% of the total recipients for the EU25.

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  • Heavily subsidized transport sector is one barrier to EU reaching Kyoto goals, says EEA study

    A recent report released by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) has found that greenhouse emissions from transport vehicles remain a key obstacle to the European Union (EU) reaching its Kyoto climate change targets.

    Entitled "Transport and the Environment: on the way to a new common transport policy," the report aims at isolating the main challenges to reducing the negative environmental impact of the sector, while at the same time making suggestions to improve the sector's environmental performance.

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