Doce subsídio

A indústria do açucar na Europa está a ficar agitada com o aproximar do fim dos subsídios. Mas quanto valem e como funcionam esses subsídios? (BBC)

European sugar beet farmers currently get about 1.7bn euros a year from the European Commission, a sum which maintains the EU price for sugar at about three times the world market price. Although the system encourages overproduction, it also awards export subsidies to keep the excess off the European market so as to keep the prices high. And the EU also imposes high import tariffs on most countries wanting to sell their own sugar into the EU.

Como sempre, o fim dos subsídios, melhora os rendimentos de quem os paga e de terceiros, num impacto que normalmente não se tem em conta, diminuindo os rendimentos dos que os recebem. Neste caso estão os produtores europeus de beterraba e os países do grupo ACP, que têm acesso a quotas e a preços subsidiados (BBC):

Under current EU sugar policies, 18 former European colonies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group benefit from preferential terms, sending 1.3 million tonnes of raw sugar at fixed prices to EU countries every year.
By way of compensation, the EU has pledged an eight-year programme of assistance for ACP countries dependent on income from sugar exports, including $40m (£21m) of support next year.

Então, acabar com estes subsídios (que existem também nos EUA e no Japão) poderia não ser uma boa ideia?(The Economist, premium)

In 1999, Brent Borrell, of the Centre for International Economics, an Australian research institution, and David Pearce, now of University College, London, calculated that unhindered and unsubsidised trade in sugar would improve the world's lot by the equivalent of $4.7 billion each year. And according to Donald Mitchell, of the World Bank, net imports by Japan, Europe, America and Indonesia would increase by 15m tonnes a year, creating almost 1m jobs in poor countries. In western Europe, sugar prices would fall by 40%.

Afinal, talvez seja uma boa ideia a Comissão Europeia implementar a decisão da WTO, resultante da queixa do Brasil, Tailândia e Austrália, reduzindo o quinhão da PAC destinado a esta indústria.