French publc expenditure for agriculture in the long run[La Dépense Publique En Faveur De L’Agriculture Française En Longue Période]

Between 1945 and 1998 and in constant francs, public expenditures for frechn agriculture (including social insurances) have been multiplied by 7. But this agriculture expenditures rate increase is less then the one of total public expenditure. They were dominated in the 1950s by investment subsidies, which accompanied the beginning of the modernization of French agriculture. From the mid-1960s, with the introduction of the CAP and the emergence of surplus situations, the market policies outweigh structural policies (including investment support) The 1992 reform of the CAP has increased the weight of support expenditure by introducing direct payments which partly replace support by guaranteed prices. At the end of the period, the predominance of "product-related" spending is accentuated by the reduction of subsidies agricultural loans. In the long term, the fall in agricultural prices outweighs the growth in support public. Over 20 years, overall collective support spending by taxpayers and consumers has decreased about 14% in real terms