Corporate Welfare 101
You hear of the idea of corporate welfare and when you meet it your still shocked.
Tonight, European fishing ministers are meeting to thrash out a deal on the reform of the billions of euros we – taxpayers – give fishermen each year.
21st Century v 1937
Some countries want to reform the current broken system. Denmark, Sweden, Austria, the UK and Germany even have the idea that taxpayers should only help fishermen with money if they are moving towards sustainability.
They are in a minority. Most countries still have a very 1950s, or dare I say it, 1930s, view of the world. Governments job is to pay for the boats building, modernisation, fuel and scrapping. Belgium and Portugal fall into this camp.
Subsidies Higher than Wages
The economic tragedy is that the average subsidy for each fishermen in many countries is higher than the average wage.
Feed the Rich
You can visit http://www.facebook.com/RichEuropeanFishermen to see the real winners of fishing subsidies.