EU budget: agriculture needs clarity and ambition

Posted on - Posted by Farm Europe

While the European Commission adopted its first milestone ahead of the negotiation of the next EU Budget, Farm Europe underlines the need to anchor the negotiation in clear facts and figures. Therefore, Farm Europe publishes today an overview of the key drivers and figures at stake to secure a strong support to agriculture as a strategic sector for Europe.

THE THREE CHALLENGES AROUND EU BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS

Inflation, the enlargement to Ukraine, the capacity or not to rebuild a common vision and the willingness to overcome global challenges together will be some of the major drivers for the next Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations.

  • Without an indexation to inflation for the period 2028-34 – and assuming modest inflation of 2% per year – the economic value of the CAP by 2034 would be more than halved (-54%) in comparison to its 2020 value. The CAP budget should be adjusted to inflation. 
  • The Commission’s initial proposal for a single fund would transfer greater responsibility to MS, with a clear risk of renationalising most of EU policies, loosing the common approach and internal market. This approach, which undermines the common dimension and runs the risk of losing funds earmarked for the CAP, must be rejected.
  • As a member of the EU, Ukraine could claim around 20% of the CAP budget and a substantial share of the budget allocated to cohesion policy.

Those drivers call for a new impetus in the budget negotiations at EU level, with the need to channel new financial capacities at EU level. Europe should be able to overcome new challenges, while at the same time strengthening its capacity to deliver a real agricultural ambition, which requires substantial investments. The commonality of the CAP should not be undermined.