Brussels slashes the EU farm budget, calls it a win. Farmers call it a declaration of war.

By Bartosz Brzeziński, Lucia MacKenzie, Ferdinand Knapp | 07/17/2025 11:43 AM EDT

The European Commission says it’s protecting farmers with a smaller but ring-fenced budget. Europe’s farmers say the cuts betray a post-World War II pact.

Italian farmers continue their protest against plans to reform European farm policy.

Italian farmers, who have installed a mobile home in front of the EU Council Justus Lipsius building, continue their protest against plans to reform European farm policy in Brussels on Feb. 23. Olivier Matthys/Blega/AFP via Getty Images

BRUSSELS — The European Commission says it’s safeguarding farmers. Farmers say Brussels is stabbing them in the back.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled plans Wednesday to cut funding for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy from €386.6 billion to just €300 billion after 2027 as part of a sweeping revision of the bloc’s next long-term budget.

That’s a headline reduction of more than 20 percent — before even accounting for inflation.

Von der Leyen, presenting her budget proposal, denied that farmers would lose out and highlighted the funding available to rural communities under other spending programs.

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