A study by the highly reputable research body, the Montaigne Institute, has forecast that four hundred thousand French farms would go out of business if they lost the existing subsidy from the European Union. Now that France has neatly outmanoeuvred Britain in discussions on the EU budget that seems unlikely to happen for another decade, but the subsidy is no longer set in stone.

Little consolation for the eventually displaced farmers, but the Montaigne Institute predicted that the 150,000 remaining farms would be highly efficient and profitable. Most would be suppliers of cereals, dairy products and beef but specialised fruit, vegetable and wine growers and organic food producers who already receive only a low subsidy, are also expected to thrive.