EU is planning to increase expenditure on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by some €8billion a year

By 2020 the EU is planning to increase expenditure on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by some €8billion a year at a time of catastrophically bad public finances. Despite the concern about pressure on food prices, reform of the CAP will not increase efficiency or lower prices to the consumer.
In addition to deregulating agricultural technology, the EU should also phase out direct payments to farmers amounting to €40bn per year. This would dramatically reduce government expenditure as well as leading to a more efficient farming sector, higher productivity and lower food prices.

The current review of the CAP represents the best opportunity for a complete change in agricultural policy that meets the challenge of rising global demand for food, but the reform must be radical.

http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/Liberating%20farming%20from%20the%20CAP.pdf