France rejects EU farm budget proposal

(Photo: Pixabay)

At a meeting of EU agriculture ministers, France expressed concern over the European Commission’s budget proposal for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2028-2034. The French agriculture minister said the amounts proposed “are not in line with previous statements by the Commission on the strategic importance of agriculture for our sovereignty.” The European Commission had previously presented a CAP reform for the next budget period, which included a commitment to provide French farmers with a “minimum” of 51 billion euros in income support over the seven-year budget period. Brussels also said other European funds were available at the discretion of member states.

Under the current CAP, France receives around €9.3 billion per year, totalling €65 billion between 2021 and 2027

The Commission argued that the two figures were not directly comparable due to the budget structure and the amounts allocated to each envelope. French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said: “I would like to express my deep incomprehension regarding the amount allocated to the CAP Guaranteed Envelope in the proposed EU budget, and similarly regarding the national CAP envelope for France.”

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