CAP budget: French agriculture minister deplores European Commission proposal

French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard deplored the European Commission's budget proposal for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on Friday, July 18, denouncing "the risks weighing on the most successful common policy in Europe." "The Commission's initial proposal for the future of the Union's budget and that of the Common Agricultural Policy turns its back on the ambitious vision that I have always defended, personally and with my political family, for the place of agriculture in the destiny of France and in the European project," the minister wrote on her X account.

"The Commission's proposal undermines our ability to act at a time of generational renewal. It also forgets that climate change requires increased and dedicated needs to secure food production," she explains, also referring to the "new agricultural geopolitics" in a "world disrupted by armed and commercial conflicts."

"I denounce the risks weighing on the most successful common policy in Europe at a time when it has probably never been more imperative to unite to face the threats. Europe's food sovereignty deserves better," she said, adding that "the negotiation is opening for many months. I will personally throw all my strength into it."

The European Commission presented its budget proposal for 2028 to 2034 on Wednesday, set at 2,000 billion euros, with additional resources for competitiveness and defense.

For agriculture, €300 billion would be allocated to farmers' incomes, compared to €387 billion, including €270 billion in direct aid, in the previous 2021-27 budget. Brussels explains this difference by a new budgetary architecture with the integration of the CAP into a large "regional and national partnership" fund, noting that states will be able to supplement the €300 billion with other European funds. Two years of negotiations must begin on the European budget before the text is finalized.

France, the European Union's leading agricultural power, is also the largest beneficiary of the CAP, with more than €9 billion in agricultural aid per year – 77% of which is direct aid to farmers. 85% of the subsidies received by French farms come from the CAP.