EU agricultural aid, '20% cut possible after 2027'

As the climate and geopolitical crises deepen and production costs spiral out of control, European agriculture is preparing for new cuts. The proposals on the Union's 2028-35 multiannual financial framework that will be presented on 16 July together with part of the post-2027 CAP reform will have to balance new budgetary needs, starting with defence funding, with a blanket at best (and net of inflation) equal to the current one.

Having banished, as usual, the hypothesis of a common financing through Eurobonds, it will be necessary to find a way to satisfy the most diverse needs. So at risk, as always, is above all Europe's first economic policy. The estimate provided on possible cuts to the CAP by the Cia-Agricoltori Italiani, who called a press conference to raise the alarm also against the temptation of the Single Fund, is more than realistic. Agriculture in crisis, said president Cristiano Fini, "needs adequate resources, instead, without calculating inflation it seems that a 20% cut in aid compared to the current budget is foreseen, therefore a total cut of about 80 billion euro out of the current 400, and for Italy 8 billion less out of the 38 already allocated. Without calculating that in the previous budget inflation already weighed in at around 14%'.

"Food security in Europe must be a priority. We cannot accept,' reiterated Fini, 'that CAP funding should go into a single fund because agricultural policy must remain central to guarantee production and income stability. We are losing market share because we can no longer produce, yet what will be presented on 16 July is wrong in method and merit. In the method because everything remains in the hands of President von der Leyen and even the individual commissioners are kept in the dark, and an impact study is also missing. First we need certainty on the budget and then the reform must be defined. In substance, a reduction of the CAP funds means not guaranteeing European food security. The single fund would then create a distortion of competition between EU Member States while the very spirit of the Union should direct resources towards certain common objectives. Furthermore, the autonomy of the CAP, which is a pillar on which the European Union was founded, would be lost'.

In detail then, said Fini, "it must be understood how the Commission intends to distribute the resources currently for agriculture based on two pillars. The one that will be presented no longer guarantees food security and puts resources in competition with other sectors starting with defence. The European Union,' he concluded, 'must define priorities, there is defence, energy and food security at stake, which is not a given because it is threatened by the climate crisis and rising costs. If we devote fewer resources to Made in Italy, we risk taking a step backwards on exports even at European level. Food safety, environmental and territorial protection must be our priorities. The hope is to also involve citizens in the European mobilisation of farmers'.