EU budget: will the CAP become a victim of the bill?

As of today, European heads of government are negotiating the EU budget for the next 7 years. The big question is whether farmers will be able to count on sufficient support in the future? 'It cannot be the case that the CAP budget decreases while ambitions go up', says LTO chairman Marc Calon.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is part of the European multi-annual budget. Previously leaked data would show that spending on this will fall by €53,2 billion. This would mean that the agricultural budget will shrink by 14% compared to the past 7 years. The UK's departure from the EU has already been included in this. 

Fair income
That is at odds with the increasingly higher ambitions, says Calon. “We expect more and more from farmers without being prepared to pay a fair wage.” According to the foreman of LTO, the CAP was once set up to bring food security and stability. “With a fair income for the farmer. An image has emerged of farmers as subsidy recipients, while the agricultural funds are actually consumer subsidies these days.”

“Consumers do not want to pay for social requirements at the shelf”, says Calon, “for example in the field of biodiversity and climate. Until we succeed in having the increasingly higher demands paid by the market, it cannot of course be the case that the budget decreases at the same time. That is unreasonable and a disregard for the value that farmers provide to society.”

tighten your belt
During the negotiations for the European budget (2020-2027), the focus will mainly be on the individual contributions of the member states. For the Netherlands, this threatens to increase by an extra €2 billion. Prime Minister Rutte, together with his colleagues in Austria, Sweden and Denmark, has indicated that the EU must tighten its belt. A further increase in the burden is considered unacceptable. The four countries are betting on a budget that is a maximum of 1% of the total income of all European countries.

Jeanette Pennings

Jeannet has her roots in the flower bulb sector and she grew up on an agricultural company in the northern part of North Holland. As a generalist she reports for Boerenbusiness across all sectors. She is also exploring the possibilities of sponsored advertising.

j.pennings@boerenbusiness. Nl

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