BRUSSELS — European farming leaders and green groups are girding for a long, hard fight following the Commission’s bombshell proposal for a new long-term budget and Common Agricultural Policy directly before the summer recess.
They share two fears upon returning to Brussels: that funding is under threat and that member countries could take drastically different approaches to divvying up the money.
Member countries will need to give out a minimum of €294 billion in income support for farmers between 2028 and 2034, according to the European Commission’s new proposal. That reduced cash pot includes subsidies based on the size of farms, incentives for eco-friendly practices, support for new and young farmers and a host of other funding streams.
“The competition within each member state that these priorities will have is really very high,” said Marco Contiero, EU agriculture policy director at Greenpeace.
