What EU budget negotiations mean for more sustainable and agroecological farming
The European Commission has proposed major revisions to how the bloc should spend its money in the future.
In the next budget period (2028-2034), farm subsidies will remain a distinct budget item but will be rolled into a single Fund to support rural development, border security and a host of other measures in an effort to streamline EU programming.
Our initial assessment is that the proposal opens the door to planning and funding for the transition to more sustainable farm practices, including a shift away from intensive animal farming and pesticide use. However, whether policymakers and farmers decide to walk through that door is far from assured.
With no dedicated funding, significant discretion given to EU governments and a budget tracking system that does not monitor progress against overarching goals, there is no guarantee that the public’s money will be spent in a way that delivers meaningful change for farmers or society.
There will be transition plans, but what they are remains vague
One new element in the future farm subsidies approach is support for farmers to move towards “resilient production systems” through farm-specific “transition action plans”.
What exactly would qualify under this transition remit is left up to each EU country to define, though converting to pesticide-free (organic) farming as well as shifting farm animal densities to levels that nature can better support are explicitly mentioned. For those EU countries where water pollution due to excess animal manure is an issue, diversifying away from intensive animal farming to other agricultural activities also needs to be an option available to farmers.
No dedicated transition funding
A cap has been proposed on the amount of support each farm could receive for their plans, but how much money is earmarked for transition support more broadly is up to individual EU countries to decide.
The new budget proposal does away with minimum spending thresholds for environmental and climate measures (a requirement of the current system) in a move that has been criticized by several farm groups. While support to farmers is ring-fenced, much of it is for basic income support based on farm size, with no clear allocation for environmental measures.
Last year representatives spanning the agrifood chain called for a dedicated pot of money to help farmers and the broader community transition towards more sustainable farm practices.
Helping farmers help the planet is on uncertain ground
The new budget continues the trend of providing more flexibility to EU countries to design their own initiatives to meet the needs for their distinct farming sectors, but links funding to achieving specific targets and milestones that are supposed to contribute to broader EU goals on climate, nature and so on.
Yet, the track record of this performance-based system is poor: EU countries have not always put forward the most ambitious environmental schemes and the Commission has had limited success in negotiating with countries to be more ambitious in their agri-environmental plans. Moreover, the performance metrics associated with budget spending are also poorly correlated with meeting the EU’s broader goals. EU advisory and oversight bodies have consistently and repeatedly called for more clearly defined objectives and a GHG emission reduction target for the agriculture sector.
It is also disappointing to see biogas production singled out as a priority climate measure. Industrial biogas production further perpetuates intensive industrial animal farming, as well as other harms.
Next steps
The tabling of the budget proposal by the Commission kicks off a one-and-a-half to two-year negotiating process, primarily with EU national governments. Stakeholders may provide feedback on several aspects of the budget proposal until September 15.
The budget does not cover all aspects of reform needed in the EU food system. In parallel to the budget process, progress is also needed to address unfair trading practices, so that farmers are able to sell their products at decent prices.
