SPAIN COTTON SUBSIDY DECOUPLING REVIEW ECJ ADVICE
September 1st, 2006
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared illegal changes to the European Union's (EU) cotton subsidy system, which effectively decoupled aid from actual production. The ECJ has ruled that by ignoring the effect of reducing aid on ginning businesses and also failing to take labour costs into account when framing the new system, the European Commission breached the key EU principle of acting "proportionately" when faced with a problem. The decision is a victory for Spain, which brought the case, and will force Brussels to review ...
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