The EU currently has one of the world’s most extensive farming subsidy programmes, worth €270 billion, representing roughly one-third of the EU budget.
The 2021-2027 programme is also expected to support the transition towards a greener, more sustainable future, as set out in the EU’s flagship food policy, the Farm to Fork strategy.
But this budget has been stretched thin over the past few months, thanks to soaring inflation, which has risen to over 10% in some EU countries, combined with skyrocketing prices of key input costs, such as fertilisers and feed, as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As such, the Commissioner argued the case for the need for a stronger CAP budget in the coming years during a meeting of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee (AGRI) on Monday (9 January).
“It is of crucial importance that CAP support provides sufficient incentives for producers to remain compliant with the growing and costly obligations,” he said, stressing that a stronger budget is required to safeguard “food security, farming and rural communities and environmental protection”.
The only option is to reconsider the sector’s share of the EU’s budget, the multiannual financial framework (MFF), the Commissioner suggested, pointing out that all existing flexibilities under the current framework aimed at minimising the impact of high inflation have already been used.
The debate around the next EU programming period of 2028-2034 has already started, three years from the Commission’s expected proposal on the matter.
The EU executive also scheduled a revision of the MFF for the second quarter of 2023, which will likely also deal with CAP as it represents a consistent part of the EU budget.
“If we want to have farming that is climate [and] environment friendly, if we want to see sustainable development of our farming in Europe, rather than intensive industrial farming, then we need to have another look at the budget, and we need a political agreement on the size of the budget,” he said.
This is not the first time that the Commissioner has voiced his support for such a move, as in an interview back in November 2022, he told EURACTIV that it would be “impossible to ensure food security with such a small budget” in the long term.
The MFF is due to undergo a review at the end of 2023, and while the Commissioner does not see much opportunity to alter the current agreement, he promised to set wheels in motion to influence the next round of negotiations.
“I will be trying to make sure that, before the end of our term of office, some ambitious proposals are made concerning the future of the CAP, including the budget,” he promised.
However, the Commissioner added that “to think about changes that might be introduced into the MFF right now” is also necessary.
“Finding a strong and common response in this challenging environment requires a profound reflection about the future of the EU budget and our joint efforts as Europeans,” he said.
The idea won broad support from MEPs, who noted the strain the sector has been under over the past year.
Stressing the impact of inflation on the sector, centre-right MEP Daniel Buda said that a budgetary increase was logical.
“I do not understand the logic where the commission finds all sorts of money for all sorts of axes but cannot find enough money for agriculture,” he said.
Meanwhile, Renew’s Elsi Katainen stressed that ‘real value income support’ is needed to ensure food security, while Spanish MEP Clara Aguilera said that she sees the MFF as the “only way to have an impact” to address the issue of inflation.
However, Green MEP Martin Häusling noted that the impact of the past few months had been felt differently across the EU, giving the example of Germany, where farmers have seen their incomes increase by 50%.
“How can explain that to taxpayers when the situation with some of these farms has really improved?” he said, questioning how this could be looked at in a “differentiated fashion”.