Von der Leyen proposes 45 billion euros more for farmers in the 2028–34 budget, at the expense of cohesion policy

Brussels – Ursula von der Leyen is tailoring and reshaping her proposal for the multiannual budget. To respond to the protests of European farmers (and to secure Italy’s and France’s approval of the free trade agreement with Mercosur), the President of the European Commission has proposed advancing​ the payment of 45 billion euros to governments to support their agricultural supply chains to the beginning of 2028. However, these are not additional resources, given that under the single-fund structure envisaged for the next EU budget, what is added to the Common Agricultural Policy will inevitably be taken away from other areas.

In her letter to the Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council and to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, von der Leyen suggested that Member States, when submitting their initial national plans, “have access to up to two-thirds of the amount normally available for mid-term review.” This represents “around 45 billion euros that can be mobilised immediately to support farmers,” the EU leader underlined. A sum that would still fall within the total amount dedicated to agriculture of 293.7 billion euros.

Von der Leyen’s offer came on the very eve of the extraordinary meeting of the 27 agriculture ministers in Brussels today (7 January). In addition to the future of the CAP, the ministers are called to approve the trade agreement with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, which was postponed until after the Christmas holidays amid grumbling of some member states. In particular, the government of Giorgia Meloni is the real power broker for securing approval of the Mercosur agreement: her green light ultimately determines whether the minority of member states that have so far blocked von der Leyen from concluding a quarter‑century‑long negotiation can be overcome. But the EU leader aims to fly to Paraguay and sign the agreement this weekend, on 12 January. 

From Rome, the signals are encouraging: the Italian prime minister has “welcomed” the change to the budget proposed by von der Leyen and “requested by Italy.” Rome could allocate an additional 10 billion euros to agriculture, Minister Francesco Lollobrigida stressed. For Carlo Fidanza, head of the Fratelli d’Italia delegation in the European Parliament, the EU leader’s opening is “an important result” achieved “thanks to the intense work of the Italian government.” Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Italy would be ready to support the agreement with Mercosur, citing progress on agricultural guarantees and possible additional resources from the EU budget.

What von der Leyen does not say is that the overall amount of the 2028-34 budget remains unchanged, as does its new structure, which provides a single fund for the Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Policy. Inevitably, if the anticipated 45 billion of the mid-term review is used by governments to support farmers, interventions for the most disadvantaged areas and resources for local authorities in general will suffer. 

A contradiction that Valentina Palmisano, MEP of the 5 Star Movement, calls out, pointing out that “this means directly hitting the funds that, through local authorities, support economic growth, employment, innovation, social inclusion, and territorial development, which were already heavily reduced in the Commission’s initial proposal.” For Palmisano, “Giorgia Meloni does not realise that Brussels is slipping her yet another European dud to get Italy’s yes to the EU-Mercosur trade agreement.”