The European Parliament's Agriculture Committee will start examining the agricultural policy for the period after 2027 from Wednesday. It will be an extensive task. More than 3,400 amendments have been submitted to the proposals from Agriculture Commissioner Hansen. This marks the start of an important phase in the parliamentary consideration of the new agricultural policy.
The reform coincides with negotiations over the new European Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Both the new agricultural policy and that budget must apply from 2028. This means discussions are taking place not only about how European agricultural support is distributed among farming sectors but also about how much money remains available for this purpose.
Strong Opposition
The European Commission has proposed a total budget of approximately 2,000 billion euros for the seven years from 2028 through 2034. This includes extra funding for Defence and greater economic autonomy. This proposal meets strong opposition from several EU countries. Particularly a number of countries that contribute heavily to the European budget believe Brussels wants to spend too much money.
Promotion
Cutting Back
Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, and Finland want hundreds of billions of euros removed from the proposal. Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria are also mentioned among those aiming to reduce the budget to about 1,600 billion euros, even if that comes at the expense of cuts to subsidies for farmers.
Opposing them are countries resisting major cuts to agricultural spending. Among them are Italy, Spain, and Poland, who wish to protect significant existing European expenditures. Poland in particular has spoken out in favor of preserving agricultural subsidies. This threatens to make agriculture a key element in the upcoming budgetary battle.
Farmers’ Lobby
The influential agricultural umbrella organization Copa-Cogeca (“the farmers’ lobby”) issued an extensive statement ahead of the talks warning against cuts to agricultural spending. European farmers are planning to hold another major demonstration at the EU summit this autumn.
At the same time, other costly European priorities are emerging. The budget discussion also calls for more money for Defence and security. The question of how much funding should go to such new priorities thus also affects the debate about existing large expenditures for agriculture and regional development.
This Autumn
New negotiations on the total EU budget are also expected this autumn. In October, a new compromise proposal is anticipated, after which heads of government will resume talks. November and December are also cited for further consultations. As a result, negotiations over hundreds of billions in European spending and the reform of agricultural policy will proceed almost in parallel.