Concerns raised over possible €87 billion cut to CAP farming budget

Potential changes to the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget for farmers - which could see it reduced by some €87 billion - have drawn sharp criticism from regional MEPs and others this week.

Annually, around 120,000 Irish farmers receive some €2 billion in CAP payments to help support the rural economy and food production.

However it's emerged that, from 2028, the European Union is proposing to end CAP's status as a standalone fund within its budget and to instead merge it with EU cohesion, migration and infrastructure funding.

Proposals published on Wednesday suggested that the CAP Budget for the period 2028 to 2034 will reduce by more than 22%, from its current level of €387 billion to €300 billion.

This has drawn a fiery response politically, with Independent Midlands - North West MEP Luke 'Ming' Flanagan saying it was "extremely disappointing that, in the face of increased need for funding to ensure EU food sovereignty and to address climate change, the allocations to CAP have decreased while the overall EU budget has increased."

Offaly TD Carol Nolan said farmers were "still picking their jaws up from the floor" following news of the plan to merge CAP into into a single National and Regional Partnerships fund from the start of the next EU budgetary cycle in 2028.

"This is not merely detachment from the real lives of farmers; it is a demented policy drive that will destroy European agriculture by people who seem to have absolutely no sense of the consequences of their proposals," said Deputy Nolan.

"If they are accepted, then there will be no going back. The EU will have put the collapse of EU and Irish agriculture into the fast lane at a time when tariffs and trade uncertainty are already causing major destabilisation.

"Outside of the Commission bubble, the universal condemnation, that has greeted this decision speaks to the genuine fear about what is happening.

"There is an air of unreality about it. People simply cannot believe the Commission would be so foolish and reckless. It is as if the cult of stupidity has been embraced with open arms.

"These proposals must be fought tooth and nail by our own Government. The time for diplomatic niceties is over," added Deputy Nolan.

Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh said she had repeatedly voted for and introduced amendments calling for an inflation-adjusted and separate CAP budget respecting the current two pillar structure of the CAP.

"Time and again, I have highlighted the risks for Irish farmers of including the CAP in the Single Fund, but it appears this has fallen on deaf ears amongst the European Commission’s budgetary maestros," said Maria Walsh.

"This new approach could reduce ringfenced funding, change the income payments system and ultimately harm our farmers and the development of rural Ireland.

"What these proposals show us is that the European Commission has made a calculated decision to downgrade the importance of the Common Agricultural Policy. The CAP is a lifeline to farmers across Ireland and the EU, yet this fact has been ignored by Commissioner for Budget Piotr Serafin."

She added that the "fight" against the proposed changes was "far from over".

"Now that we have the Commission’s blueprint, the real battle will begin and play out within the Parliament’s Agriculture Committee and the EU Council over the coming months.

"Crucially, the final negotiations will take place during the Irish Presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2026 meaning that Irish Ministers and MEPs will play a leading role in defining the final structure of the CAP."

The Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food at the houses of the Oireachtas also issued a statement expressing concern about the EU Commission's plans to pool its CAP policy into a single national and regional partnerships fund from 2028.

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Aindrias Moynihan said: "Members have concerns that these proposals will see the financial supports received by the approximately 120,000 Irish farmers annually of around €2 billion in CAP payments to help support the rural economy and food production being directed away from farming and into other areas.

"Our committee calls on the Government and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon to continue to keep Irish farmers interests front and centre in all negotiations with the European Union during this process."

The Minister for Agriculture yesterday (Thursday) opened the first meeting of Ireland's CAP Consultative Committee for CAP post-2027.

Of the proposed changes to CAP arrangements, he said: "These are very significant proposals, and we have been through considerable reforms before and we’ve managed to negotiate through them in the past and we’ll do the same again.

"What always remains as a constant is the importance of the work of our farm families and our agrifood businesses to our rural economy."

He added that the publication of the proposed changes was "a starting point" and that they would now be examined on a "line by line" basis.

"We'll have a very significant role to play during our EU Presidency in the second half of next year," Minister Heydon added.