State aid to agriculture: more than €18 Bn since 2021

As part of its considerations on the CAP and crisis management, Farm Europe analysed the State aid granted to the agricultural sector since the start of the budgetary period.

Between 2021 and 2024, Member States allocated over €18 billion in State aid to the agricultural sector, representing no less than 11% of the  total aid under the first pillar of the CAP — a proportion that rises to 14% when focusing solely on the 2021-2023 period.

The volumes of aid granted vary considerably between Member States, revealing a ‘three-speed Europe’.

The Netherlands has by far provided the most support to its agricultural sector, both in absolute terms and relative to direct payments or the national agricultural production value. Over the period studied, aid accounted for 101% of the first pillar received by Dutch farmers, totalling almost €3 billion. Denmark, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia also granted substantial funds, ranging from 20% to 43% of their respective direct aid. During the 2021-2022 period, Spain distributed the equivalent of 28% of its first pillar. Finally, while the total amounts provided by Italy, France and Germany remain substantial, these States have limited their support to between 5% and 10% of their respective direct aid, a level below the European average.

On average across Europe, these State aids only partially compensated (70%) for the loss in the real value of CAP first pillar payments resulting from their lack of indexation to inflation. The situation, however, varies significantly from one Member State to another.

• Four countries overcompensated for the decline, providing farmers with liquidity that could boost their investment capacity. The Netherlands stands out in particular, with support 8 times greater than the inflation-related decline. Poland and Spain (1.4 times), and Greece (1.3 times) follow.
• The other countries that provided the most support for their agriculture offset the decline by between 50% and 75%.
• Finally, it should be noted that some countries granted very little state aid to their agricultural sectors (e.g. Latvia, Estonia, Ireland, Romania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Portugal).

In the “Our work” section, you will find a more detailed analysis of the subject, as well as an infographic showing the situation in each of the countries of the European Union, over the period and by year.