The EU pays non-farmers not to farm:

The loophole allows investors to become classified officially as farmers and then buy the right to receive annual EU subsidies to cut agricultural production. Because the subsidies are decoupled from the land they relate to, investors do not need actually to own the ground they are claiming for or even go anywhere near it.

The profits to be made are enormous, with investors potentially increasing their capital nearly fivefold in 5 years.

Auctioneers and brokers who used to sell cattle and farm-land are now focusing their attention on selling the rights to receive European taxpayers’ money — known as entitlement trading — in what one described as a “ferocious” market with the rights to subsidies “flying off the shelf”.

Demand is outstripping supply by five to one, because the profits from investing in subsidies are up to ten times higher than putting the money in a bank. After making a one-off payment, the investor is entitled to receive from the taxpayer every year a cheque that typically amounts to a third of the original investment.

While it’s unfortunate that this nonsensical redistribution scheme and its accompanying rent-seeking are wasting EU taxpayers’ money, it also has its merits: The payments are completely decoupled from production and exporting activities, so the subsidies are not market-distorting and the WTO will have no objections!