The System of Financing Agriculture in European Communities

The article discusses the system of financing agriculture in European Communities. The vital instruments of the system are stressed: crop prices, subsidies and agricultural products' duties towards the third countries. Particular attention is paid to the agricultural prices as these have the crucial impact on the situation of agricultural market. They compose an instrument of interventional shaping of both, crop supplies and the level of farmer incomes. The agricultural duties are also influencing the crop supplies on the Communities' market. Yet, they are of a limited range, what results from the concluded agreements and adopted obligations by the Communities. The supplementary role is played by subsidies in case of crop exports. The agricultural prices in the Communities are higher from these prices at the world market, so in order to sell crops outside of the Communities, they must be subsidized. The common agricultural policy is financed from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. Most of the expenditures is intended to finance interventions on the agricultural market. Small amounts are to finance the structural reconstruction of the agriculture. The present system of agriculture financing resulted in an agricultural surplus production which became a financial burden. And the possibilities of increases in the agricultural policy financing are limited. It is aimed to limit expenditures for financing common agricultural policy in a gradual way, but solving that problem would call for the radical reform of that policy.Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201