French farmers fret over subsidies in post-Brexit EU budget talks

(SOUNDBITE) (French) FARMER, JEAN-CLAUDE PETTE, SAYING:

"All we know is that unfortunately, if you look at the prices we sell our produce for, we need those subsidies to survive right now. That's the only thing we know for certain."

French dairy and crop farmer Jean-Claude Pette relies on European Union subsidies to keep his farm afloat.

But he worries support could be cut....as governments seek ways to plug a budget hole left by Britain's departure from the bloc.

Pette - who receives more in subsidies than he earns in a year- says President Emmanuel Macron must insist on those payouts being left untouched when EU leaders meet this week to thrash out the bloc's next seven-year budget.

EU leaders are already divided over spending priorities.

With hot topics like climate change and immigration on the agenda... French farmers worry that their more traditional needs will be overlooked.

But Macron has tried to reassure farmers and said there can be no reduction to the Common Agricultural Policy budget.

Making financial support for farmers more environment-focused might be one way to get round the so-called ''frugal four'' - The Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Denmark.

But this could be tough for Macron to sell to farmers already exasperated at being cast as polluters.

(SOUNDBITE) (French) FARMER AND BREEDER, JEAN-CLAUDE PETTE, SAYING

"It's fine to make the CAP greener, but there comes a time where in terms of farming efficiency, you reach limits. Farming doesn't have to be environmentally friendly, even if it's possible to have a kind of farming that is eco-friendly, such as organic farming and so on. But organic farming isn't the answer to all the agricultural demands."

Pette, who joined hundreds of other French farmers in blocking highways leading into Paris in November, said that could mean aid payments wouldn't even be enough to offset losses.