EU to hand national governments greater say in agricultural subsidies

Governments and not the EU Commission will be given a greater say on how to spend the EU’s enormous agricultural budget, according to a new EU proposal published Wednesday.

Currently around 70% of the Common Agricultural Budget (CAP) is directly dispensed by the EU to farmers in the form of income support and greening payments, providing they meet common EU goals on crop rotation and protection of biodivserity, with the remainder dispensed by the state.

But the EU Commission, in its communication The Future of Food and Farming, has proposed from 2020 to give member states greater discretionary powers on how to spend the €68 billion CAP annual budget.

The proposal, which will see member states manage all of the funds, as opposed to currently 30%, is meant to simplify the rules and give greater flexibility across the EU.

However, lobby groups representing farmers have reacted negatively to the statement, with Farm Europe claiming the policy amounted to the EU Commission shirking its responsibilities in administering the funds by transferring the policy burden to each country.

“It would threaten farmers’ livelihoods by removing the existing level playing field and exposing them to internal economic and environmental dumping. It would turn the clock back on environmental ambitions because member states would be able to sacrifice standards to gain in competitiveness,” the lobby group said in a statement.

The lobby group claimed that instead of financing a common EU goal, it could mean member states will compete against each other to produce the highest yielding crop in cash terms rather than rotating crop in line with a broader EU policy.

However, the EU rejects this claim, saying it will bring greater accountability on how the funds are spent.

The EU Commission will table a legislative proposal to implement the change before summer next year.