EU grapples with costs of subsidising agriculture

European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos wants to reform Europe's agricultural policy, but resistance from the farming lobby threatens to derail his plans. It will be to the detriment of citizens, who are expected to pay for a highly subsidized industry that is harmful to the environment.

From the top of the hill, farmer Martin Ramschulte has an unobstructed view of the past. "That one down there has given up," says Ramschulte, "and so has that one, and that one back there, too." Then he points to a brick house next to a pond. "And if this continues, it'll eventually spell the end of that place, too."

Ramschulte, 59, is pointing to his own house. "That's just the way it is," says the gaunt farmer.