This article presents an analysis on the public supports granted to European and French agriculture. At the international level, the indicators built by OECD indicate that the European Union (EU) is a zone which protects more its agriculture that many other exporting zones (Australia, New Zealand, the United States). However, and because of the successive reforms of the Common agricultural policy (CAP), the budgetary expenditure for agriculture, is reported to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in reduction. The direct subsidies, which strongly progressed, play from now a determining part in the income of many farms. With the introduction of the decoupling, the debate relating to legitimacy of the supports is held in a new context.