Social Committee warns farms are getting 'too big' and are concentrated in the 'hands of a few'

Access to land – 'a serious challenge' for Europe's farmers, the Committee says
Access to land – 'a serious challenge' for Europe's farmers, the Committee says

Members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) have held a conference to discuss how a minority of rich individuals operate on most land around Europe.

The conference, titled 'Access to land for farmers in the EU' took place on 7 December in Brussels at the EESC headquarters and at the European Parliament.

Brendan Burns, President of the EESC NAT section, referred to his own country of Scotland, where 50% of the land is in the hands of only 500 people, who mainly live outside Scotland. This results in 'dying villages, deserted landscapes and a weakening economy', Mr Burns explained.

Since 1999, Scotland has been trying to change this situation and has faced obstacles in the process. For example, when communities want to buy land from owners living far away from Scotland. "The situation in Scotland has prevented the country from gaining sustainable rural development and societies, it should be a warning example for Europe," said Mr. Burns.

Concentrated land distribution in Europe 'alarming'

Sylvia Kay, from the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute (TNI), has been monitoring the situation of farming and land access in Europe for many years.

She has produced some figures: in Europe, 3% of the farms control 52% of the land, or 11% of the big farms (over 100 ha) are controlling 75% of the European farming land. In Bulgaria, 83.5 % of the farmland is in the hands of only 2% of the farmers.

All over Europe the tendency towards big farms is increasing, the conference heard: in Finland large farms have increased more than fivefold (5.5) and the farmland they control six-fold. In the Netherlands large farms have tripled.

At the same time Europe is facing a decline of small scale farms (up to 10 ha): of the 12 million in operation in 1995 until 2013 only 8 million have survived, which equals a 33% reduction. In Estonia the situation is worse: in only 10 years – between 2003 and 2013 - 62% of small farms vanished.

The EESC explains that the high concentration of ownership and the trend towards fewer but larger farms are causing problems in the upstream and downstream economy, cutting many jobs and hollowing out rural areas.