Farmers in the European Union may enjoy generous agricultural subsidies, but market prices for their produce - including dairy products - falling sharply in recent months means they too are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Farmers in Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands are now calling for higher EU subsidies to supplement their falling income, but it's doubtful Brussels will be willing to dip into its pockets.

 
Radio Netherlands Worldwide visited a small farmers' market in the town of Villach in the Austrian Alps, close to the borders with Slovenia and Italy, and found a lot of fresh and relatively cheap produce, but also a great deal of disillusionment with the EU.

Gap
Sure, the EU is handing out billions of euros in subsidies every year, but according to one farmer, the gap between his costs and what he actually earns is growing:
 
"The EU subsidies are helping a bit, but not nearly enough. Food prices have been falling for over a decade, but for us small Alpine farmers production costs have shot up. It is extremely labour-intensive work. So, the gap is growing, but the EU is no longer doing anything to help".
 
The reason why the EU is less generous than it used to be - or so these farmers claim - is the continuing expansion of the union. With all the new member states, there is less money available for each individual farmer. Growing pressure to cut the EU's agricultural budget - the largest of all the EU's spending programmes -  could mean subsidies are trimmed even further. "Our hard work is rewarded less and less," says Reinhard Skovich, a dairy farmer who sells cheese in Villach's street market.
 
Under pressure
It's a view shared by the Italian and Slovenian farmers who also come to the Villach market as the borders with their countries are just a few kilometres away. What irritates these farmers is that their healthy, organic farming methods are under threat now that profits and subsidies are under pressure.
 
Farmers in other countries are also feeling the pinch due to the combination of falling market prices, lower subsidies and customers spending less money in these tough economic times. Dutch farming associations called for higher EU subsidies this week, as many farmers in the Netherlands find themselves producing and selling dairy products below cost price. However, the only thing the EU agricultural ministers have managed to agree on is an earlier pay-out than usual of the annual subsidies.
 
The farmers' call comes in the run-up to the upcoming European parliamentary elections. However, the Villach market farmers haven't decided yet whether they will vote at all:
 
"The problem is that we don't feel we can make much of a difference. Austria is so small, how can we influence things that are going on in Brussels? Brussels feels a long way away".
 
If even the farmers at the Villach market  - who rely so heavily on support from Brussels - don't feel motivated to even cast their vote, then this probably means that Brussels' failure to reach out to Europeans is truly great indeed.

photo by Drumaboy on flickr.com