Bratislava – The European Commission (EC) is proposing to reduce funding for agriculture by 30 to 40% in the upcoming long-term EU budget for 2028-2034, despite an overall budget increase of approximately 800 billion euros. This was announced on Tuesday by Richard Takáč, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Slovakia, during a briefing with Member of the European Parliament (EP) Katarína Roth Neveďalová, as reported by TASR.
Richard Takáč highlighted that the proposed capping of agricultural support for large farms could severely negatively affect Slovakia’s agricultural sector.
“The agriculture sector is set to receive 30% less funding in the new budget proposal for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. Considering inflation, the reduction could reach up to 40%. While the Commission aims to allocate additional funds for military purposes, it plans to cut agricultural funding significantly,” Takáč explained.
He remarked that previously, agriculture had distinct funds in the EU budget, but the new proposal suggests merging all funds, which he believes could lead to substantial financial losses. He warned that the existing first and second pillars of the EU’s common agricultural policy are being eliminated, resulting in a single pillar for agricultural funding.
Capping direct payments threatens Slovakia
“The capping of direct payments at 100,000 euros for the final beneficiary poses the greatest threat to Slovakia among EU member states, potentially leading to the collapse of agriculture due to farm size structures,” Takáč cautioned, noting that the new budget also abolishes the redistributive payment. Assistance for food producers will be categorized differently than currently.
“We will propose several amendments to the EC. We disagree with the merger of the Common Agricultural Policy and funds for the agri-sector and will advocate for the retention of the first and second pillars. While we can discuss capping at 100,000 euros for one enterprise, this should only apply when reimbursing wage costs from EU sources,” Takáč emphasized.
Katarína Roth Neveďalová expressed that dissatisfaction with the budget proposal is widespread among EP members. “The EC has been indicating significant changes to the next seven-year EU budget for months. We did not anticipate it would be this drastic,” the MEP stated.
The Common Agricultural Policy, along with funds for regional development and national partnership plans, has historically accounted for about 65% of the EU budget. Under the new proposal from the EC, this share is expected to drop to around 45%. (August 26)
“The Commission plans to allocate more money for armaments in the new budget for the years 2028 to 2034, which is larger by about 800 billion euros. On the other hand, for the agri-sector, it wants to allocate 30 to 40% less compared to what it has been so far.” Richard Takáč.
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