Coupled tobacco subsidies decried

The European Public Health & Agriculture Consortium (EPHAC) has said that it is disappointed by the European Parliament’s approval of subsidies coupled to tobacco production.

‘Tobacco should not have a place in the 2014-2020 EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),’ it said.

‘With this move, the European Parliament wants to inject taxpayer’s money into a toxic crop that causes nearly 700,000 annual deaths in the EU.

‘Today’s [March 13] vote did very little to fix all that is wrong with the EU agricultural policy and the crucial role it should play in protecting people’s health.’