On Wednesday 16 July, the European Commission drew the ire of the farming community when it presented a proposed budget of €300 billion for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2028–2034. This represents a reduction of more than 20% compared to the amounts set out in the 2021–2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), i.e. €378 billion.
“We are protecting over €300 billion in income support for farmers and fishermen. This includes a doubling of the agricultural reserve in order to safeguard the livelihoods of our farmers”, said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“Our proposal strengthens both the overall budget and the CAP’s capacity for action”, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen told the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. According to him, the CAP remains “a central element” of EU funding for the next financial period (see other news).
“We are providing stability and predictability for farmers by safeguarding income support”, he said.
The 2028–2034 CAP budget for income support and crisis management is “at least €300 billion”. This “safeguarded budget” represents 80% of the current budget and “is exclusively intended to support farmers’ incomes and cannot be reallocated or made subject to flexibilities”, insisted Mr Hansen.
The €300 billion is a minimum amount: Member States will be able to supplement this envelope through their national and regional plans, according to their priorities.
The overall envelope dedicated to the National and Regional Partnership Plans is proposed at €865 billion, offering Member States numerous opportunities to strengthen the core budget, in synergy with other policies. With national co-financing planned for certain measures, “the potential for public funding is therefore much higher”, he explained.
The European Commission is proposing to create a ‘unified safety net’ for crisis measures, with a budget of €6.3 billion, doubling the current agricultural reserve (€450 million per year).
The new MFF introduces a new indexation method. The annual adjustment to budgetary amounts will be 2% if inflation is between 1% and 3%, and if the forecasted level of inflation is below 1% or above 3%, the adjustment will be corrected according to the actual rate. “This is very important, because in recent years we have seen inflation in excess of 3%”, said the Commissioner.
“Don’t try to make us believe it’s a success”, said Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italian), who estimated the real reduction to be 25%. “We were expecting some catastrophic announcements. It could even be worse than that”, said Céline Imart (EPP, French). Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA, Austrian) felt that they were witnessing “the end of the CAP”. The project will lead to a “renationalisation of the CAP and a loss of unity at European level”, deplored Benoît Cassart (Renew Europe, Belgian). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)