According to recent media reports in Belgium, CAP spending on the upkeep of the EU’s cow population is €2 per day, almost 100 times that of an average employee of the European institutions, which amounts to a bargain €0.021 per day.

However, with budget cuts looming and a threatened 5% cut in the number of employees (2,500 across all institutions), some civil servants are suggesting an alternative; circulating inflammatory ant-bovine emails and advocating instead a reduction in the number of European cows by 25. This would, apparently, “be better for the public, the environment, health…but a little less for cows”.