The fishing industry in the European Union (EU) receives a significant amount of government subsidies, which have promoted the overcapacity of European fishing fleets, resulting in overfishing, and rendering fisheries in many European countries unprofitable and a poor investment for taxpayers. In 13 countries, subsidies added up to an amount greater than the value of the fish catch.
For the first time ever, the OECD has compiled an inventory of over 250 measures that support fossil-fuel production or use in 24 industrialised countries, which together account for 95% of energy supply in OECD countries. Those measures had an overall value of about USD 45-75 billion a year between 2005 and 2010. In absolute terms, nearly half of this amount benefitted petroleum products (i.e.
Matteo Milazzo, World Bank Technical Paper. Study examines the role of subsidies in generating fishing capacity far in excess of biological productive capacity.
(Table of Contents, Volume 23, Issue 6). Energy Policy, V. 23, No. 6. Full articles available only through journal publisher, but abstracts can be viewed.
Matthew Saunders and Karen Schneider. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. June 2000. Australia is only one case in this international overview of problems with subsidies. AUSTRALIA, CANADA, UNITED STATES, JAPAN, EUROPEAN UNION, FORMER SOVIET UNION, EASTERN EUROPE, CHINA, INDONESIA, KOREA, THAILAND, INDIA, SOUTH AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, MEXICO, ARGENTINA.
Antony Froggatt for Greenpeace. Reviews environmental effects of EU energy support programs and identifies actions the EU and member states should take to reduce the environmental and fiscal impacts of these programs. EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES
Matthew Savage with Paul Baruya and Jack Cunningham for the European Environment Agency. Reviews subsidy types, estimation techniques, and benefits of reform within the EU context.