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Figure 11: Base level per ha direct payments basic rate €/ha 350.00 300.00 250.00 200.00 150.00 100.00 50.00 0.00 NMS‐12 EU‐27 EU‐15 LV RO EE LT PT ES PL SK AT UK SE FI CZ LU BG FR SI IE IT DE DK CY BE NL MT GR Source: Author’s compilation of the Commission (2011, 67 (Annex 3)) data. The Commission also considered (3) a so-called ‘objective criteria’, which would mean including economic—possibly means testing—and environmental considerations when allocating direct payment monies between member states. It is difficult to judge both the probability and the desirability of the ‘objective criteria’ based incremental reform. Much depends on how economic needs and environmental threats are going to be defined. Based on the MTR multi-level negotiation patterns, it is unlikely that there would be anything objective in the ‘objective criteria’. Domestic farmers’ lobbies would push national chief executives to argue that their farmers are in the most dire economic situations and that their environmental situation deservers special attention and funding. The final (4) proposal for redistribution of the direct payments within the adjustment scenario would simply be a combination of the second and third approaches. 56