EU Financial Management

The hon. Gentleman has made a helpful intervention. In the previous debate on this subject it was suggested that we might produce sugar as a biofuel, which would be a much more environmentally friendly form of fuel production than producing alcohol for fuel. That is one possibility. Whatever the arrangements, we could choose nationally how we subsidised our agriculture. I am sure that we could do that while taking account of all the needs of the rural population, including farmers, as appropriate. I am sure that we would do a much better job of it than the CAP and the EU. Indeed, every country would do better. We should have a proper and thorough study of the precise fiscal distributional effects of abolishing CAP. What would happen to France? I have made a rough calculation that shows that abolition would not make that much difference. There might be a small cost equivalent to 1 per cent. of GDP if France were to subsidise its farmers directly rather than through the CAP. Indeed, the CAP is so inefficient and so corrupt that France might do a better job of it directly rather than through the CAP. Getting rid of the CAP would solve many of the problems.